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INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN PACIFIC LEADERSHIP AND
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BY
SEAN ALVIN FERNANDEZ
A thesis
Submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington
in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Victoria University of Wellington
2016
brought to you by COREView metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk
provided by ResearchArchive at Victoria University of Wellington
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Abstract
As part of the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations has a long-
held commitment to universal primary education for all children. Aid donors
in wealthy nations have taken up this call and international development
programmes have subsequently been set up in recipient countries where
education is not available to everyone. Despite this, an estimated 1.6 million
school-aged children in the Pacific region do not currently have access to
formal primary schooling. As the timeframe for achieving the Millennium
Development Goals draws to a close it is now clear that this aspiration will
not be realised in many parts of the Pacific and a generation of children will
grow up without a primary education. This raises questions about the design,
delivery and management of international aid programmes in the education
sector that are often led by people who are not members of the Pacific
communities that they seek to assist.
This research explores the frustrations felt by recipients of education
development programmes in two nations in the Pacific, Tonga and Fiji
focusing on the relationship between international development in the Pacific
and leadership styles and cultures in the education sector. A key problem
that was articulated by aid recipients is that international aid relationships in
the Pacific continue to be dominated by the discourses and priorities of donor
nations and important opportunities to develop grassroots and local forms of
leadership that respond directly and knowledgably to the rapidly changing
needs of Pacific communities have yet to be fully realised. At the same time,
new forms of Pacific leadership are emerging as global economies
increasingly affect the lives of people living in remote communities and there
is a need to respond to these changes because they have a direct impact on
schooling for children who live in those areas. Donor nations have not
contributed significantly to local leadership development in the education
domain and this is an ongoing source of tension for many people because
there are so few formally trained indigenous leaders in the education field.
The lack of local leaders in this area has an impact of the level of buy-in that
iv
Pacific communities give to educational aid projects. This thesis argues that
if donor nations are serious about providing universal primary education,
leadership development needs to be supported more comprehensively.
Keywords: Pacific leadership, leadership development, international
development, development programmes, donor partners, Millennium
Development Goals, recipient nations, Re-thinking Pacific Education Initiative
for and by Pacific Peoples, indigenous leadership, wantok.
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Acknowledgments
Tukua te wairua kia rere ki ngā
taumata
Hai ārahi i ā tātou mahi
Me tā tātou whai i ngā tikanga a
rātou mā
Kia mau kia ita
Kia kore ai e ngaro
Kia pupuri
Kia whakamaua
Kia tina! TINA! Hui e! TĀIKI E!
Allow one’s spirit to exercise its
potential
To guide us in our work as well as
in our pursuit of our ancestral
traditions
Take hold and preserve it
Ensure it is never lost
Hold fast.
Secure it.
Draw together! Unite!
Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my PhD supervisors;
Dr. Kabini Sanga and Dr. Joanna Kidman, who have been instrumental in
shaping my thinking and writing throughout the course of this work. The
journey that I have been on has been profoundly guided by their motivation
and support in completing this work. Without their ongoing support I would
have left the PhD programme part way through, and I did attempt to do so.
Clearly level heads prevailed during a moment of weakness.
It is only at the lowest point in the PhD journey that you fully realise how
much trust and faith you need to have in your PhD supervisors. You also
have the opportunity to see the faith that they have in you. The PhD journey
undulates like a wave in the open ocean. The heights of greatness are
immediately contrasted against the chasms of loss as you attempt to find
your footing in an unknown world. It is the role of the student to be
emotionally prepared for the turbulence of the PhD rollercoaster ride. But the
journey itself will test the limits of even the most battle hardened students.
This is where a good PhD supervisor will light a small flame, and show you
which way to walk.
vi
I was very fortunate to have two amazing supervisors to help me on this
journey. Finishing the PhD process is a mix of happiness that it is completed
and sadness that I am about to leave the safety of the having two amazing
people guide my work. However the anticipation of making a change in the
wider world cannot and should not be underestimated. So much has been
done, but there is so much more to do. Only time will tell if I am able to
translate the lessons I have learned through the PhD journey into action in
the wider world.
This thesis may have my name on the title page but it is not reflective of the
support that I have received from my family and friends. I would like to take
the opportunity to thank some people who have been instrumental in helping
me through this journey. By no means is this list extensive. It is merely
reflective of the people who have helped me on a day to day basis. There
are so many other people to thank but that in itself would be a chapter in this
thesis.
I would like to acknowledge the support of the participants in both Fiji and
Tonga. If it were not for your wise words I would not have been able to
participate in or complete this thesis. I hope that I have been able to
represent your voice sincerely and truthfully.
Victoria University of Wellington has been instrumental in supporting this
completion of this thesis. Victoria University of Wellington provided the
funding to allow me to complete my data collection phase and awarded me a
completion scholarship. I am thankful for all the help.
vii
If it was not for the love and support of my smart and beautiful daughter
Bailee Fernandez I would not have been able to complete this work. Her
understanding that I needed to spend a significant amount of time away from
her to complete this work has been amazing. Bailee’s ability to grow and
develop into the amazing person that she is, has shown me that she will be
able to accomplish anything in life. I wish Bailee all the best in the future and
hope that she follows her dreams and makes her dreams a reality. I love you
Bailee Boo.
My family have been supportive of me both emotionally and financially
throughout this process. Kathy Patira-McGill and Kevin McGill have been
there for me during every aspect of this process and without their support I
would not be here today, in this space, in this place completing this work.
Their understanding and support have been amazing. I truly believe that
every person who has completed a PhD need people in their life like Kathy
and Kevin. They represent all that is good in the world. Words cannot
express my gratitude towards them.
Much love and appreciation is sent to my great-grandmother Kathleen
“Nana” Patira Netana Nathan who has provided spiritual guidance and
support over this journey. If it was not for the wise words of Nana while
growing up, I would not have thought to begin the PhD journey. In many
ways this PhD is a reflection of the dreams that Nana had for me. I only
hope that I have been able to meet them.
I would also like to thank my sisters Kimberley Lawry and Celestine Hawkins.
The two people that you can rely on to put you into the insane asylum when
you start acting crazy. Thank you and love you both.
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Lastly I would like to thank all of the other PhD candidates who have shared
their PhD journey with me. We have all had our ups and downs. But now
that mine has drawn to a close I can see how the other candidates have
been instrumental in providing advice and moral support. I hope that I have
been supportive of others as they have been of me.
At times the PhD journey seems long and lonely, however it is not until the
end that you are able to see that it was always being supported by your
friends and family.
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Table of contents
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... V
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... IX
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................... XVI
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................... XVII
LIST OF APPENDICES .................................................................................. XVIII
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................... XIX
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 21
SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM ......................................................................... 23
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ...................................................................... 26
FOCUS OF THE RESEARCH ............................................................................ 27
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY .............................................................................. 27
RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................ 28
DELIMITATIONS ............................................................................................ 28
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH .................................................................. 29
SELECTION OF LITERATURE .......................................................................... 30
LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................ 31
RESEARCHER POSITIONING .......................................................................... 32
REASON FOR SELECTING TONGA AND FIJI ...................................................... 34
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER ONE ......................................................................... 36
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH CONTEXT ......................................................... 39
WHAT IS MISSING FROM THE LITERATURE? ..................................................... 39
HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT .................................................. 41
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATIONS ............................................ 46
WESTERN VALUES AND PACIFIC SCHOOLING SYSTEMS .................................... 51
RETHINKING PACIFIC EDUCATION INITIATIVE FOR PACIFIC PEOPLES................. 53
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EDUCATION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO POVERTY............................................. 55
THE CYCLIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND POVERTY ...................... 56
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................... 58
CHAPTER 3: LITRATURE REVIEW ............................................................ 61
A PACIFIC VIEW OF POVERTY ........................................................................ 62
GLOBALISATION AND NEOLIBERALIST IDEALS WITHIN AN INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK ......................................................................... 63
INTERNATIONAL AID AND THE EDUCATION SECTOR ........................................... 65
POVERTY REDUCTION AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS ................. 68
RESOLVING ISSUES IN THE DONOR RECIPIENT RELATIONSHIP ........................... 69
SMALL NATION STATES ........................................................................ 70
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS ........... 71
A POST-DEVELOPMENT LENS......................................................................... 75
SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ................................................. 79
LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOLS .............................................................................. 80
Claim 1: School leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an
influence on pupil learning ..................................................................... 82
Claim 2: Almost all successful leaders draw on the same repertoire of
basic leadership practices ..................................................................... 83
Claim 3: The ways in which leaders apply basic leadership practices,
rather than the practices themselves, demonstrate responsiveness to,
rather than dictation by, the contexts in which they work ...................... 83
Claim 4: School leaders improve teaching and learning indirectly and
most powerfully through their influence on staff motivation, commitment
and working conditions .......................................................................... 84
Claim 5: School leadership has a greater influence on schools and
students when it is widely distributed .................................................... 84
Claim 6: Some patterns of distribution are more effective than others ...85
Claim 7: A small handful of personal traits explains a high proportion of
the variation in leadership effectiveness ................................................ 85
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FROM AN ACTION LOGIC PERSPECTIVE ................. 86
The opportunist ..................................................................................... 87
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The diplomat ......................................................................................... 87
The expert ............................................................................................. 88
The achiever ......................................................................................... 88
The individualist .................................................................................... 89
The strategist ........................................................................................ 89
The alchemist ........................................................................................ 89
CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON LEADERSHIP .......................................... 91
Trait verses process leadership ............................................................ 92
Assigned verses emergent leadership .................................................. 93
Leadership and power .......................................................................... 93
Leadership and coercion ....................................................................... 94
Leadership and management ............................................................... 94
THE WAYS THAT LEADERSHIP MANIFESTS ITSELF ............................................ 95
LEADER DEVELOPMENT AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ................................ 95
Leader development .............................................................................. 96
Leadership development ........................................................................ 97
LEADERSHIP CAPACITY ................................................................................. 98
THE ROLE OF THE FOLLOWER ....................................................................... 98
PACIFIC LEADERSHIP ................................................................................. 100
LEADERSHIP TYPOLOGIES .......................................................................... 101
Instructional leadership ........................................................................ 102
Educational leadership ......................................................................... 103
School leadership ................................................................................ 106
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP (FAKAFEANGAI TONUNGA A E TAKI) ..................... 107
VISIONARY LEADERSHIP (SIO ATU) ..................................................... 108
ORGANISATIONAL LEADERSHIP (TAKI ‘I HA POTUNGAUE) ....................... 108
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP (PAPA FAKAHINHINO) .............................. 109
COMMUNITY CONNECTEDNESS (FENGAUE AKI) .................................... 109
Hereditary leadership (chieftainship) ................................................... 110
Transformational and transactional leadership relationships ............... 110
Servant leadership ............................................................................... 114
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER THREE ................................................................... 116
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CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY ................................................................. 117
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AID PROGRAMMES AND LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................... 117
RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................................................................. 118
THE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PARADIGM ...................................................... 118
MODEL FOR RESEARCH: CASE STUDY RESEARCH ......................................... 119
INQUIRY PARADIGM: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH .............................................. 122
UNITS OF ANALYSIS .................................................................................... 125
RESEARCH PARADIGMS .............................................................................. 125
The radical humanist paradigm (subjective-radical change) ………..…127
The radical structuralist paradigm (objective-radical change)…...….....127
The functionalist paradigm (objective-social regulation)…………..……129
The interpretive paradigm (subjective-social regulation)…………….…130
THE ROLE OF RADICAL HUMANIST PERSPECTIVES IN THIS RESEARCH………….131
RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................................... 132
SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS ....................................................... 137
SUMMARY OF THE DATA COLLECTION PROCESS ............................................ 137
PARTICIPANT SELECTION CRITERIA .............................................................. 138
DATA COLLECTION ..................................................................................... 139
IMPACT OF RESEARCHER ON DATA .............................................................. 140
DATA MANAGEMENT ................................................................................... 141
THE TRANSCRIBING AND CHECKING PROCESS ............................................... 142
DATA TRIANGULATION ................................................................................ 142
DATA ANALYSIS ......................................................................................... 143
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................... 144
PASSING ON OF A PARTICIPANT ….. ............................................................. 145
SUMMARY OF THE PROCEDURES USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS
RESEARCH ................................................................................................ 146
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER FOUR ..................................................................... 148
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CHAPTER 5: AN ONTOLOGY OF ENCOUNTERS ................................... 149
A PACIFIC FRAMEWORK.............................................................................. 149
WANTOK: A PACIFIC PHILOSOPHY ............................................................... 152
WHAT IS WANTOK? ................................................................................... 155
KASTOM NOT CUSTOM ................................................................................ 157
WANTOK AS SOCIAL CAPITAL ...................................................................... 159
SERVANT LEADERS AND THE WANTOK FRAMEWORK ..................................... 160
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER FIVE ....................................................................... 161
CHAPTER 6: FINDINGS ........................................................................... 163
RESEARCH QUESTION ONE: WHAT ARE RECIPIENT’S PERCEPTIONS ABOUT PACIFIC
LEADERSHIP AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES IN THE PACIFIC
CONTEXT? .................................................................................................. 164
Leadership and followership in the Pacific context .............................. 164
How international development programmes are constructed? ........... 167
Lack of leadership development in the Pacific ..................................... 169
What happens when the funding stops? .............................................. 171
Insufficient resources in schools ......................................................... 173
RESEARCH QUESTION TWO: WHAT ARE RECIPIENT’S PERCEPTIONS OF
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE PACIFIC CONTEXT? .............................. 174
Reciprocity in the Pacific context ......................................................... 174
Improved leadership capacity ............................................................. 176
Development partners using external consultants ............................... 178
International development as a form of colonisation ............................ 181
RESEARCH QUESTION THREE: IN WHAT WAYS ARE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMMES ENHANCING EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT? ............. 184
The Church .......................................................................................... 184
Educational leadership capacity ........................................................... 186
How international development enhances educational leadership ....... 188
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER SIX ........................................................................... 194
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CHAPTER 7: DISCUSSION ...................................................................... 197
THE RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS .................................................................... 198
HOW INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES ARE CONSTRUCTED IN THE
PACIFIC CONTEXT ...................................................................................... 199
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE FUNDING STOPS? ................................................ 200
RECIPIENT PERCEPTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS USING EXTERNAL
CONSULTANTS ........................................................................................... 204
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMED AS A CONTINUATION OF
COLONISATION ........................................................................................... 205
The colonisation of the Pacific by the west is still a recent event ........ 207
Colonisation and international development are undergirded by aspects
of control of the recipient nation state .................................................. 208
Colonisation and international development can change social and
cultural behaviours .............................................................................. 209
PACIFIC CULTURES, THE CHURCH AND MODERN SYSTEMS ............................. 210
PACIFIC LEADERSHIP ................................................................................. 213
THE COMMON SHARED UNDERSTANDING ..................................................... 217
PACIFIC FOLLOWERSHIP ............................................................................ 219
TRANSACTIONAL AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN THE DONOR RECIPIENT
RELATIONSHIP ........................................................................................... 220
LACK OF FORMAL LEADERSHIP IN THE PACIFIC .............................................. 223
FUTURE LEADERS NEED TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE EFFECTIVELY IN BOTH THE
TRADITIONAL AND MODERN SECTORS OF PACIFIC LIFE ................................... 225
HOW INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ENHANCES LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT .. 226
Leadership capacity ............................................................................ 226
All development programs have aspects of leadership development .. 227
Provision of funds, resources and infrastructure ................................. 228
A SHIFT IN THE REPORTING OF THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
OUTCOMES ............................................................................................... 229
HOW HAS THIS RESEARCH ANSWERED THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS? .............. 231
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER SEVEN .................................................................... 236
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CHAPTER 8: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS .................... 243
CHANGE IN FOCUS FOR DONOR PARTNERS ................................................... 244
LONG TERM COMMITMENTS ........................................................................ 245
USE OF EXTERNAL CONSULTANTS ................................................................ 246
USING LEADERSHIP IN A MACRO AND MICRO SCALE ....................................... 247
FURTHER RESEARCH ................................................................................. 251
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 252
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................... 255
APPENDICES ......................................................................................... 277
Appendix 1: Research interview questions .......................................... 277
Appendix 2: Research consent form .................................................... 278
Appendix 3: Research information sheet ............................................. 279
xvi
List of figures
Figure 2.1: Cycle of poverty, education and economic growth…..………..…57
Figure 3.1: Distribution of leaders across Action Logics………….………..…90
Figure 4.1: Burrell and Morgan’s paradigm for the Analysis of Social
Sciences…………………………………………………………………….…....125
Figure 4.2: Summary of the research process……………….……...…….…137
Figure 4.3 Summary of the procedures used in this research………….…..146
Figure 7.1: Leadership development distribution between rural and urban
areas of the Pacific………………………………….…………………..……....212
Figure 7.2: Pacific leadership typology distribution between traditional and
modern contexts…………………………………….. …………………..……..215
xvii
List of tables
Table 3.1: Table of school leadership…………………………………………107
Table 4.1: Relevant situations for different research strategies...………….119
xviii
List of appendices
Appendix 1: Interview questions…………………………………………........277
Appendix 2: Research consent form……………………………………..……278
Appendix 3: Research information sheet………………….……..……..…....279
xix
List of abbreviations
AQEP Access to Quality Education
AusAid Australian Aid
DAC Development Assistance Committee
IBRD International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development
IMF International Monetary Fund
MDG Millennium Development Goals
NZAID New Zealand Aid
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-
Operation and Development
PLP Pacific Leadership Programme
RPEIPP Re-thinking Pacific Education
Initiative for and by Pacific Peoples
TSSLP Tongan Secondary School
Leadership Programme
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21
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This thesis explores the relationship between international development in
the Pacific and leadership styles and cultures in the education sector. The
education sector is the focus of this study because it is a zone of encounter
that neatly illustrates a series of critical tensions between the donor nations
that seek to establish universal primary education in line with United Nations
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the cultural priorities and
contexts of recipient communities in the Pacific.
At the time of writing this thesis, universal primary education is an aspiration
that is yet to be realised in a region where the outcomes of the development
programmes have been erratic at best. This raises questions about the
design, delivery and management of international aid programmes in the
education sector that are often led by people who are not members of the
Pacific communities that they seek to assist. There is a substantial and
growing literature in the domain of indigenous education that supports the
need for indigenous peoples to exercise self-determination in the education
of their children. In particular, the call to move beyond assimilative schooling
policies and practices towards a more culturally responsive approach to the
education of indigenous children has gathered momentum throughout the
twentieth and early twenty-first centuries (Brayboy & Castagno, 2009). In line
with this, indigenous thinking about schooling in the contexts of colonised or
post-settler nations tends to centre on questions about who is leading
educational initiatives and whether local and indigenous forms of governance
and leadership have been incorporated into those initiatives. International aid
relationships in the Pacific, however, continue to be dominated by the
assimilative discourses of donor nations (Jack, Zhu, Barney, Brannen,
Prichard, Singh & Whetten, 2012) and important opportunities to develop
grassroots and local forms of leadership that respond directly and
knowledgably to the needs of Pacific communities have yet to be fully
22
realised. This thesis looks at these issues and the tensions that have
emerged as a result.
Donor nations often use agencies that are funded and staffed by their own
people who provide the structure, expertise, resources and funding of
development programmes. For example, the Australian government’s
overseas aid programme, AusAID, is one such donor agency. Its
development programmes differ in terms of focus, size and longevity but as a
donor agency it receives its strategic direction from the Australian
government. This is common in most government-funded donor agencies
around the world where agreements are negotiated with recipient nations but
the overall strategic direction of aid programmes more often reflect the
strategic and economic priorities of the donor nation. Consequently,
development programmes often provide what the donor nation considers to
be important but this does not always align with what the recipient nation
wants. Both donor nations and recipient nations come to the international
relationship with their own agendas and ideas about the needs of the region
and its future. This thesis shall explore perceptions of the donor-recipient
relationship from the point of view of recipients.
This research is premised on the argument that to achieve universal primary
education in recipient nations, donor nations need to support local leadership
firstly in the education sector but also in other domains. My study will show
that there is a clear need to increase the number of Pacific educational
leaders working in the sector as well as support initiatives that build the
leadership skills and knowledge that will ultimately enable Pacific
communities to solve their own educational problems. At present it seems
unlikely that the current levels of infrastructure and resources will be
sufficient to bring about universal primary education in the foreseeable future
and with that in mind, this research shows that in order to meet that target
the education aid landscape needs to change.
23
I have gathered data in this study that show that contemporary Pacific
leadership approaches in educational contexts have been significantly
shaped by external forces. In line with this, I shall argue that formal
educational leadership initiatives and programmes that are delivered to
senior Pacific officials in the sector favour contemporary and western forms
of leadership over more traditional perspectives. Over time, this has
influenced the perceptions of leaders who are based in the Pacific as they
begin to replace more traditional forms of leadership with those that more
closely resemble the leadership approaches and values that are commonly
found in donor nations. Traditional forms of leadership continue to exist
alongside contemporary modes of authority but these tend to be maintained
within social and cultural domains that have not yet been altered by the
presence of international aid in Pacific communities. With this in mind, an
examination of the relationship between international development and
leadership development allows us to uncover the ways in which international
development is both enhancing and negatively impacting leadership
development in the Pacific region.
Summary of the problem
For some Pacific nation states the international development model has
become a mainstay of economic development opportunities that would
otherwise be unavailable to recipient nations (Campbell, 1992; Luteru &
Teasdale, 1993). When United Nations member states agreed to provide
universal primary education (as part of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) by 2015 there was an expectation that this would also occur in the
Pacific region. However at the time of writing this thesis, this has not
happened (Australian Agency for International Development, 2009).
One of the issues for educational leaders in the Pacific, therefore, is to
decide how to most effectively address the lack of access to primary
schooling in many areas. At present, 1.6 million school-aged Pacific children
are enrolled in formal education systems throughout the region but a further
24
one million children do not have access to primary schooling (NZAID, 2012).
Of the children that attend primary school, early grade reading assessments
have shown that up to 40 percent are at risk of not developing basic reading
skills (NZAID, 2012).
One of the most important organisations in the Pacific where discussions and
debates about these matters takes place between representatives of
different governments is the Pacific Islands Forum. At the 2011 gathering of
leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, representatives of the Australian
government reaffirmed its commitment to support recipient nations in
improving education systems across the Pacific region. In addition to
existing funding, Australia made a commitment to providing AUD$124.5
million over the following four years to support international development
programmes (NZAID, 2011).
The Australian commitment to educational aid is important here because a
common feature of international development in the Pacific is that education
is seen as a necessary pre-requisite for economic development to take
place. This relates to a strongly held conviction that a high-performing
education system creates a high-performing economy. A high-performing
economy in turn creates the conditions where development programmes can
be effective. However, despite significant investment in the sector, Luteru
and Teasdale (1993) argue that, “the expected economic outcomes have
been disappointing in terms of improving labour productivity and increasing
the rate of economic growth” (p. 297).
Furthermore, it appears that of those students who attend primary school in
the Pacific region only three percent will go on to tertiary education
(Australian Agency for International Development, 2012c) with the majority
completing their education at the end of primary school (Luteru & Teasdale,
1993). This is be a response to the educational policies of Pacific nations
25
that are shaped by, “two main considerations: economic development and
preparation of local people for a useful and productive life. Yet these two
considerations are not always compatible, and most countries have
considerable difficulty accommodating both” (Luteru & Teasdale, 1993, p.
298). In other words, ideas about economic growth that originate in donor
nations do not always match what Pacific people see as important and
necessary for the wellbeing and health of the community.
The reality for many recipient nations is that international development
programmes are a necessity until they are able to create and maintain a self-
sustaining economy themselves. The international development model is
used to encourage recipient nation states to mitigate poverty whilst
strengthening economic policies. The United Nations (2000) is focused on
the eradication of poverty and its subsidiaries which includes providing
universal primary education as a priority for all nations and although many
state leaders have agreed to this, it has not translated into practice on the
anticipated scale or within the timeframe (Australian Agency for International
Development, 2009). Consequently, subsidiaries of poverty still exist within
recipient nations in the Pacific.
Many commentators have argued that the process currently used by donor
nations is in need of drastic change (Australian Agency for International
Development, 2009; Taufe’ulungaki , 2002; Thaman, 2002). In pragmatic
terms, the small size of most Pacific nations has a limiting effect on the ability
of educators to attend to administrative and management duties. This is
because in some cases educators have multiple roles and may not be
sufficiently experienced in all areas (Coyne and Bray, 1999). Higher salaries
(Carroll & Foster, 2009; Lashway, 2003), increased professionalization
opportunities, additional educators, reduced staff turnover (Carroll & Foster,
2009), raising achievement rates, improving resources and developing
teachers and evaluation programmes (Singh, 2002) have also been identified
as key concerns for educational leaders. In this thesis, however, educational
26
leadership development programmes may mitigate these issues to a certain
extent by improving access to resources, professional development and
infrastructure.
In summary, development programmes are generally underpinned by
western values rather than by an appropriate indigenous system of values
(Sanga, 2005b; Taufe’ulungaki , 2002; Thaman, 2002; Van Peer, 2005).
This creates a bifurcated and fragmented reality for Pacific students as the
“in school” world appears to be cognitively dissonant from their “out of
school” world where the school curriculum consistently fails to value the
culture of the learner (Kelep-Malpo, 2005; Roughan, 2002; Sanga, 2002;
Thaman 2009a). These issues contribute to the research problem that is
addressed in this study as outlined in the section below.
Statement of the problem
Educational leaders in the Pacific often do not have sufficient resources to
increase student achievement to the desired levels (Carroll & Foster, 2009;
Singh, 2002). Development programmes have not, in the main, been
effective in generating enough appropriately trained and qualified students to
create and maintain successful business opportunities that allow recipient
nations to become independent of development programmes (Luteru &
Teasdale, 1993). This means that it is difficult for Pacific governments to
achieve universal primary education without first addressing leadership
development issues.
One of the main problems for Pacific leaders in the education sector is that
despite there being some funded support (United Nations, 2000), there is not
sufficient infrastructure or resources to achieve key development outcomes.
Recipient nations have been unable to meet key performance indicators and
this has seriously hampered the ability of recipient nations to reduce the
subsidiaries of poverty by using the MDGs. As a result the likelihood of
27
reducing poverty and its subsidiaries seems to be unlikely within the current
timeframe using the current model (Australian Agency for International
Development, 2009).
This research will uncover an alternative dialogue about international aid and
leadership that is not represented in the literature. An explanation will be
provided later in this thesis that describes why international development has
been unable to meet its target of providing universal primary education in the
Pacific. This explanation will draw on the perspectives of recipients.
Consequently achieving anticipated outcomes as defined by the MDGs will
always be difficult until international development takes leadership
development in the Pacific seriously.
Focus of the research
International development is based on the notion that communities in
recipient nations need to be acculturated or assimilated if they are to achieve
the desired economic outcomes (United Nations, 1951; cited in Escobar
1995). When international development becomes involved in leadership
development the kinds of leadership that are prioritised often reflect Western
perspectives rather than those of indigenous communities. Understanding
the ways that international development impacts on leadership development
will help to explain why the anticipated outcomes of development
programmes are often not met. Creating an understanding of leadership
development in the Pacific context will go some way to describing why
leaders have not been able to use development programmes to attain
anticipated outcomes.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this research is to examine and better understand the
concepts that shape the relationship between international development
28
programmes and leadership development in recipient nations. This research
will identify how international development programmes interact with ideas
about educational leadership in the Pacific context.
Research questions
1. What are recipient’s perceptions about Pacific leadership and
leadership development programmes in the Pacific context?
2. What are recipient’s perceptions of international development in the
Pacific context?
3. In what ways are international development programmes enhancing
educational leadership development?
Delimitations
The areas of focus in this study are restricted to Fiji and Tonga. Fiji and
Tonga were selected for two reasons. Firstly they are good exemplars that
highlight the multi-national nature of international development in the Pacific.
In the case of this research, strategic direction for educational leadership
development programmes (that are operated by AusAID) comes from Fiji,
while the programme is operationalised in the recipient nation state.
Consequently a programme operating in Tonga receives strategic support
from Fiji. This means that a case study considering the role of international
development in Tonga should include both Fiji and Tonga, even if Tonga was
the original area of inquiry.
Secondly, at the time of data collection, there were only two educational
leadership programmes operating in the Pacific region. Both were funded by
AusAID. One programme was located in Tonga, while the second was
located in Fiji. The Tonga Secondary School Leadership Programme
focused on educational leaders at the secondary school level. The Access
to Quality Education Programme was located in Fiji and focused on primary
schools, but included leadership development of the Ministry of Education as
well.
29
Because the Tonga Secondary School programme is operationalised in
Tonga but receives strategic direction from Fiji, and the Access to Quality
Education programme is located in Fiji it seemed natural to include both Fiji
and Tonga in the case study. Due to the fact that at the time of this research
there were only two educational leadership development programmes
operating in the Pacific, this study also included discussions with
development consultants that have worked on other leadership development
programmes, many of whom were involved in educational leadership
development programmes that have since ended.
In the Pacific, considerable value is placed on knowing the participants
before you interview them. In this case I did not have a pre-existing
relationship with the participants and met them all for the first time just days
before the interview. Thus, in this research there was no underpinning
relationship between myself and the participants that could have allowed this
to occur although I had introductions to some prospective participants and
organisations from my primary supervisor, Dr Kabini Sanga.
Significance of the research
This research explores the donor-recipient relationship from the point of view
of the recipient. There has been a considerable amount of financial
investment in development programmes but it has not been sufficient to
resolve the issues of poverty and its subsidiaries in recipient nations. In the
Pacific, between 2.7 and 3.2 million people do not have enough income to
meet their basic human needs and between 4,000,000 and 480,000 children
are not enrolled in primary education (Australian Agency for International
Development, 2009).
30
After seven decades of using the international development model,
researchers are no closer to understanding why it has not achieved the
anticipated outcomes as forecast. In this study, I consider the idea that
leadership in the Pacific is changing, however the basis of the international
development is largely the same. Accordingly, there is a need to construct
development programmes that reflect the current context that meets the
needs of recipients.
The frustrations experienced by recipient nations are generated, in the main,
by the ways in which the development programme model interacts with local
contexts. Understanding the root cause of the problem will cast light on how
these issues can be remedied. This study differs from other research in the
same area because it focuses on the perspective of recipients in a landscape
where Pacific leadership is changing. Understanding the frustrations of
recipients will go some way towards finding solutions that meet the needs of
the recipients and enhancing aid relationships and partnerships.
Selection of literature
The literature review in Chapter Three of this thesis examines the
relationship that education has with international development and
leadership styles and approaches. I also discuss issues relating to poverty
reduction in recipient nations as well as ideas about leadership and
followership.
The literature about the effectiveness of development programmes can be
drawn into two camps. Namely, those who believe that international
development can work but only if the domestic policies of recipient nations
change to accommodate donors’ requirements; and those who don’t
(McGillivray, Feeny, Hermes & Lensink, 2006). The literature discussed in
Chapter Three that refers to international development was selected with an
understanding that international development is effective when the domestic
policy of the recipient nation is reflective of the needs of development
programmes.
31
What this research does not argue is that international development is
always ineffective. This is because, in line with McGillivray et al., (2006), I
contend that, “aid works to the extent that in its absence, growth would be
lower” (McGillivray, Feeny, Hermes & Lensink, 2006, p. 1031). There is an
understanding here that international development can work in some
contexts even if the improvements are small.
In addition, the leadership literature in Chapter Three explores multiple
leadership typologies and discusses the variety of ways that leadership can
be improved. However what is included in this research is the leadership
typologies that can be easily observed in the Pacific context. In this case the
leadership typologies that are included are chieftainship,
transactional/transformational leadership and servant leadership. Care was
taken to limit the number of leadership typologies described in this research
because I became aware that the more leadership typologies that I
examined, the more diluted the emphasis of the leadership typologies that
are present in the Pacific became. I felt that by including every conceivable
leadership typology would weaken rather than strengthen the arguments
presented in this research. However I would like the reader to know that the
majority of mainstream leadership typologies described by the wider
leadership literature was examined by not included.
Limitations
Convenience sampling was used in this research and occurs when
participant selection is based on their willingness and availability to
participate in the research (Creswell, 2012). It does not allow me to state
with confidence that the sample population is representative of the whole
(Creswell, 2012; Johnson & Christensen, 2008). This research captures a
larger proportion of the total participant pool, because there are not that
32
many people that could have participated in this research. Consequently
sampling in this manner is less of an issue.
Because people see the world in different ways and qualitative research
does not generally separate the researcher from the data interpretation
process, another researcher may reach different conclusions as
interpretations draw on personal experiences, previous studies or both
(Creswell, 2012).
Researcher positioning
In my own life, I have personally experienced many different forms of
leadership both as a leader and a follower. This includes military, business,
sporting and cultural contexts in leadership and followership roles. I have
been elected to a number of boards that manage and oversee Māori and
western oriented organisations and in this way I have come to understand
that leadership styles vary greatly and are context dependent. I have
purposefully and successfully been a leader and a follower in each context
and have undertaken academic study as a means of formulating an
understanding of the how and why of leadership.
In designing this research I have attempted to bridge the knowledge gained
from completing a Bachelor’s of Science in Geography where I studied
international development and a Masters of Education where I studied the
issues faced by indigenous peoples with regard to receiving a quality
education experience as well as my own interest and experience in
leadership structures. This research draws on extends my earlier
educational interests and includes a focus on the ways in which educational
leaders interact with international development programmes in the Pacific.
33
It is important to note that when considering the research design, I did not
know in advance which data collection methodologies were appropriate. The
choices made in the research design process were the result of a problem-
oriented situation. Therefore the research design reflects challenges faced
by problems encountered. An example of this was choosing to interview
participants rather than use a talanoa methodological approach.
According to Vaioleti (2006), talanoa methods are, “a derivative of oral
traditions. Under the control of appropriate researchers, it allows contextual
interaction with Pacific participants to occur that creates more authentic
knowledge, which may lead to solutions for Pacific issues” (Vaioleti, 2006, p.
23). I felt more comfortable with using the interview process to collect data
because I am more experienced in this form of data collection methodology.
My experience with talanoa was wholly academic and I had never
participated in a talanoa session prior to conducting this research. Because
of this I would have been experiencing the talanoa process for the first time
during data collection. This meant that I did not feel that I was
knowledgeable enough to collect data using the talanoa data collection
method. Doing so would have been insensitive to the cultural needs of the
people that have gifted me their knowledge through the data collection
process.
Being of Māori and Malaysian descent and holding a largely Māori
worldview, I understood that meetings had to take place face to face. As a
result I decided to use interviews as a way of collecting data for this
research. This meant that I had to travel to both Fiji and Tonga to collect
data. It was the first time that I had been to either country.
The literature tells a convincing story. As I read more about the subject
matter it seemed that the people involved and their stated objectives did not
marry up to the reported outcomes. This prompted further investigation. The
34
literature showed that after almost seven decades, and budgeting billions of
dollars, international development had not significantly improved the
standard of living in many Pacific Nations. As a result, poverty has not been
eradicated despite best efforts on the part of donor and recipient nations.
Reason for selecting Tonga and Fiji
Originally I wanted to investigate the impact of flagship development
programmes on the education sector in a Pacific nation state. I soon
realised that there were only two educational leadership development
programmes currently operating in the Pacific context. They were both
AusAID programmes that received strategic direction from Fiji and were
operationalised in the recipient nation state.
I also understood that international development programmes tend to favour
programmes that support the provision of primary education for students.
However I came across a programme running out of Tonga that focused on
providing leadership training to secondary schools (Tonga Secondary School
Leadership Programme (TSSLP). Knowing that this was unique in terms of
development programmes in the education sector, I chose Tonga as one
country for inclusion in this study, so that I was able to capture the secondary
school experience. There was no educational leadership development
programme in Tonga, however, that focused on primary schools.
Because programmes are operationalised in recipient nations in the Pacific
but receive strategic direction from Fiji, I knew that development consultants
in Fiji would also have to be interviewed. However in Fiji there was a primary
school leadership programme operating that supported leadership
development in the education sector (Access to Quality Education
Programme (AQEP). To bring balance to the research I decided to include
programmes in both Fiji and Tonga as countries of interest, and include both
35
the Access to Quality Education Programme and Tonga Secondary School
Leadership Programme as the focus of interest.
By including both Fiji and Tonga as research sites I was able to consider
leadership programmes at both a primary and secondary levels and show
that currently educational leadership development programmes are
strategically motivated from Fiji but operationalised within the recipient
nation. I was also able to observe that both Fiji and Tonga have a strong
sense of reciprocity in the way that educational leaders conduct themselves.
For me, this had a strong correlation with the servant leadership typology
that I discuss later in this thesis which holds that a person should be a
servant first and leader second. I contrasted this with my understanding of
the operationalisation of international development programmes which
seemed to be transactional in nature.
International development consultants in both nations who do not participate
in either of these programmes were also interviewed. This was so that this
research would have greater depth. Some care was taken in contacting
development consultants. It was important that participants were
knowledgeable about, had some experience or had been involved in at least
one leadership development programme. In this way the combined voice of
the participants would be reflective of the larger international development
community rather than two AusAID run programmes. If I had not of included
development consultants in this research I would have only been able to
draw on the knowledge of consultants that were participating in the Access to
Quality Education Programme or Tonga Secondary School Leadership
Programme. Although this would have represented the entire population that
was available at the time, it would have resulted in data that was less rich.
36
Summary of chapter one
In this chapter I have commented on the relationship that exists between
international development and leadership development in the Pacific region.
This study includes an exploration of two programmes, the Access to Quality
Education Programme and that Tongan Secondary School Leadership
Programme. These are based in Fiji (AQEP) and Tonga (TSSLP)
respectively.
I have suggested that an understanding of recipients’ perceptions of
international development is key to moving forward into the future.
Inspecting leadership development in the Pacific will uncover the ways in
which Pacific leaders receive their professional development. This research
places leadership development led by international development
organisations in its correct location.
Understanding Pacific leadership is important for international development
partners because it describes the way that Pacific leaders are likely to
behave to attain a pre-defined goal. In this way understanding Pacific
leadership from the recipient’s point of view is fundamental to creating
successful international development programmes.
By focusing on educational leaders in the Pacific context, this research is
able to describe some of the issues faced by educational leaders in the
Pacific context. It will provide a context as to why the resources and
infrastructure provided by development partners have not been sufficient to
achieve universal primary education in recipient nations. It will also
investigate some of the issues faced in the delivery of leadership
development to educational leaders in the contemporary Pacific context.
37
In chapter two, I will introduce the context of international development and
how the Millennium Development Goals underpin poverty reduction in
recipient nation states. Later, in chapter three, a review of the literature is
undertaken. A lens is placed on the way that international development is
constructed, how international development intends to reduce aspects of
poverty in recipient nation states, how leadership in schools impacts on
learning outcomes, the ways in which leaders develop leadership skills, the
difference between leader development and leadership development,
leadership capacity, the role of the follower, and a summary of different
leadership typologies.
This research is a case study that is analysed qualitatively, focusing on Fiji
and Tonga as areas of interest. To complete this research, data needed to
be collected, an outline of the processes used can be found in chapter four.
Following on in chapter five is a discussion of the philosophical framework
that underpins this research. Providing a philosophical framework is
important because the thesis is positioned from the perspective of the
recipient and questions the relationship between international development
and leadership development in the Pacific context. As such, understanding
how participants interpret the world provides the reader with a window into
the participant’s worldview.
Chapter six discusses how the participants interpreted the research
questions, and this is analysed later in chapter seven. In chapter eight, I
offer some recommendations for moving forward.
38
39
CHAPTER TWO
RESEARCH CONTEXT
In the previous chapter I provided an overview of the aims of this study. It
summarised the issues that face educators in the Pacific context and
explained the focus of the investigation, the delimitations and limitations of
the research as well as identifying the research questions. In this chapter, I
introduce the contexts of international development that frame this study. In
particular, I discuss the Millennium Development Goals that underpin the
aims of international development for poverty reduction. I explore these ideas
in relation to recipient nations in the Pacific and show how international
development is constructed around western values and is geared towards
protecting Western economic and geopolitical interests in ways that are at
odds with the values and ontologies that drive Pacific communities.
What is missing from the literature?
The experiences of Pacific aid recipients are not widely represented in the
literature on international development nor are their perspectives well
represented. In this regard, the international development literature is
dominated by the views of scholars and experts within donor nations. This is,
perhaps, unsurprising. Escobar (1992) argues that international development
serves the political interests of donor nations and is often little more than an
instrument of economic and social control over recipient nations and this
includes those in the Pacific region. This is because the way in which donor
nations conceive of international development today has its origins in the
way that the global political landscape and the world economy were
restructured in the wake of the Second World War as will be discussed later
in this chapter.
40
In the main, the literature represents issues regarding international
development from the perspective of the donor. This is an important point
because donor agencies produce and publish reports that focus on the
successes of the programmes they run and often do not include grassroots
perspectives that offer different points of view. Donor agencies often
reference previous development programmes repeating the same rationale
throughout the years and any changes that are made across donor reporting
tend to be relatively minor. One reason for this is that recipients tend to not
publish documents presenting their own perspectives about development
programmes in their communities. In the Pacific this kind of literature is
scant. They tend to not have the mechanisms or resources to publish reports
discussing their views about development programmes, successful or
otherwise. Indeed, recipients need to be mindful about keeping donor nations
happy given that they are a source of income. This means that there are few
formal avenues available for recipients to express criticism or alternative
perspectives from those of donors. As I shall show in a later chapter, this
research uncovered some of the frustrations felt by recipients about
international aid programmes. As a researcher I felt that by maintaining their
confidentiality participants were able to voice an alternative dialogue that is
not widely discussed in much of the development literature.
Pacific-based leadership typologies are also largely absent from the
academic literature on international development. What is available tends to
focus on traditional forms of Pacific leadership that are based on a cultural
context that is largely based on pre-colonial times. Local leadership
strategies for a modern Pacific is decidedly absent in the literature aside from
biographic stories about Pacific leaders. “We know very little ‘research
knowledge’ about Pacific leadership” (Sanga, 2005c, p. 1). This is because
“research on the link between culture and leadership processes is yet to be
studied comprehensively” (Paea, 2009, p. 21). The way that Pacific peoples
conceptualise and enact their own styles of leadership are radically different
41
from much of the existing leadership literature (see for example key
academic writers about leadership such as Bass, 1991; Northouse, 2013).
In the Pacific, the church plays a significant role in relieving the pressure
from the local government-funded schools by providing assistance to local
communities often in the form of church sponsored schools. With regard to
leadership development, the church organisations play a significant role in
developing a range of leadership skills that are often not represented in the
workplace. In this way the relationship between schools, local leadership
practices and the church is closely intertwined in such a way that it cannot be
ignored. This research does not investigate or examine the ways in which
the church is engaged in either educational leadership or the provision of
schooling. However, it is recognised here that in the Pacific, the church
plays a role in the leadership development of community members.
A major aspect of this study is the role of international development and aid
in the Pacific. To understand this, it is important to understand the historical,
economic and political context of international aid, particularly as it relates to
the education sector. In the following sections, I provide an overview of
international aid relationships since the close of the Second World War.
History of international development
The devastating aftermath of World War Two not only required the rebuilding
of shattered urban landscapes across Europe but as the War drew to a
close, the political and economic landscapes of Western Europe and its allies
were also in need of significant reconstruction and this ultimately had a far-
reaching impact on the economies and political structures of nations in the
Pacific. The restructuring of the global economic order began at the 1944
Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire, when representatives from
forty-four allied nations agreed to the establishment of an interlocking set of
42
institutions and procedures that would regulate the international monetary
system in ways that were mutually beneficial to the member states. It was as
a result of decisions made at Bretton Woods, that the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD) (now part of the World Bank) were formed. The IBRD focused
primarily on the reconstruction of European monetary systems and as such,
the economic needs of Pacific nations were largely ignored. This was due to
the fact that nation states outside of America and Europe were referred to as
colonies and concepts of international development, underdevelopment and
poorer nations as we understand them today did not exist at that time (Peet,
2009).
At the Bretton Woods Conference, the allied nations formed and ratified a
new method for fixing the exchange of foreign currency. Initially established
to allow economic reconstruction after the war, the IMF and IBRD created
the institutions, rules and procedures that nation states around the world
used to regulate the international currency exchange in the post-World War
Two era. These institutions and procedures brought a structure to the global
economy that provided a platform from which international development
could be established (Peet, 2009).
Since their formation the IMF and now the World Bank have become pivotal
in the poverty reduction programmes in recipient nations and the World Bank
is a key player in the funding of international development programmes much
of which is in the form of loans to poor nations. At the beginning of the post-
war economic reconstruction era, the leaders of nations in Europe and
America were largely unaware of the issues faced by other nations. This was
to change in 1949, however, when the newly elected American President,
Harry Truman, in his inaugural address spoke of the need for wealthy nations
to assist the poor. He said,
43
More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas. For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people. (Truman, 1949)
His solution to this situation was novel. He argued that by working towards
improving the lot of people living in poverty in nations around the world, the
economic powerhouse of America would be able to establish new markets
and places of trade. Speaking from the position that world peace would be
dependent on reducing the barriers to free trade, President Truman
suggested that scientific advances and industrial progress could be used to
help grow and improve under developed areas. He said, “[a]ll countries,
including our own, will greatly benefit from a constructive programme for the
better use of the world's human and natural resources. Experience shows
that our commerce with other countries expands as they progress industrially
and economically.” (Truman, 1949).
Truman’s words echoed the views of many western leaders of the era. Gone
were the days of territorial colonisation with its large, cumbersome and
expensive bureaucracies in distant countries far from metropolitan centers in
the West. Truman was launching what would become a new era of economic
colonisation and global imperialism but first, America and its allies had to
create those markets and nations abroad and this is where poor nations,
including nations in the Pacific, began to appear on the economic and
political radar of world leaders in the West.
Truman (1949) differentiated nation states based on their level of
development and used this to justify extending the “American Dream” to the
rest of the world. To achieve this Truman (1949) intended to reproduce
features that characterised a developed nation in what they considered less
developed nations. A United Nations report of the period (Measures for the
44
Economic Development of Underdeveloped Countries. (1951) cited in
Escobar, 1995) argued that for modernisation to occur, the social and
cultural history, bonds and values of nations that accepted international aid
had to be exchanged for the characteristics of more developed nations.
Additionally those nations that were unable to keep up with their progress,
the report stated, could not expect to have a comfortable life. Escobar (1995)
argues that this view soon received wide acceptance in the West.
Since Truman gave his inaugural speech, enduring ideas about the role of
wealthy nations in providing aid to less wealthy nations have centred on a
series of goals that are advocated by the United Nations. Called the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), they are; (i) eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger, (ii) achieve universal primary education, (iii) promote
gender equality and empower women, (iv) reduce child mortality, (v) improve
maternal health, (vi) combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases, (vii)
ensure environmental sustainability, and (viii) global partnership for
development (United Nations, 2000). This research focusses on the second
Millennium Development Goal, achieving universal primary education in
recipient nations in the Pacific.
Officially then, the main objective of international aid is the promotion of
economic development and the welfare of recipient nations (Fuhrer, 1996).
Accordingly, in the Pacific, many nations are increasingly dependent on
international aid and the external expertise that often accompanies it (Coxon
& Munce, 2008). However rather than helping recipient nations to develop in
their own ways, “development policies became mechanisms of control that
were just as pervasive and effective as their colonial counterparts” (Escobar,
1997, p. 85).
To this end, Berg (2000) argues that sustainable international development
programmes that promote economic growth while reducing poverty have
been difficult to conceive and implement. Indeed, despite best intentions,
international development programmes have not been as successful as
45
anticipated (Australian Agency for International Development, 2009;
Taufe’ulungaki, 2002; Thaman, 2002). In the Pacific, many are aware that
development and aid programmes have had little effect on their quality of life
and per capita income rates (World Bank, 1998).
In many recipient Pacific communities, the individual accumulation of wealth
is less of a priority than the wellbeing of the collective (Coxon & Tolley, 2005;
Sanga, 2005b). The underlying values and negotiations that surround aid
programmes, however, usually reflect the economic ideologies of donor
nations and in educational aid contexts these tenets are often used to
promote a move away from indigenous cultural worldviews that favour the
collective towards those that endorse the individual accumulation of wealth
(Coxon & Tolley, 2005; Sanga, 2005b). Furthermore, Sanga (2005b) argues
that increasing the institutional infrastructure capacity in recipient nation aid
programmes increases the number of people who utilise the institutions. In
this way an increased number of people will attain the characteristics of a
“modern person” by acculturating capitalist values into the traditional frame
(Sanga, 2005b).
Many Pacific nations have become reliant on financial support from donor
nations to run their schooling systems. Campbell (1992) argues that
because most Pacific nations are heavily dependent on this foreign
development assistance for a range of economic and social activities and
they are not able to sustain their present levels of activities “without the
continuation of loans, grants, favourable marketing treatment, or some other
gratuitous circumstances (Campbell, 1992, p. 59). Moreover, after the
Second World War, development assistance was originally conceptualised
as a combination of capital, technology and education coupled with policy
and planning mechanisms (heavily influenced by the economic interests of
donor nations) to aid in the economic development of recipient nations
(Escobar, 1992). In line with this, international aid and the development of
education programmes are today seen as being closely linked because a
46
strong education system is perceived as a pre-cursor to a strong economy
(Gylfason, 2001).
Thus, there is widespread agreement in the West that poverty reduction is a
priority and that in order to achieve this all children need to have to access
primary education regardless of their socio-economic status or geographical
location (United Nations, 2000). Focusing on education is important for
international development programmes because there is belief that the
resulting labour market will support the economic growth of the recipient
nation. In turn, economic growth in recipient nations is seen as being
dependent on creating an education sector that supports and maintains
these goals.
A potential factor in the failure of educational aid is attributed to donors using
an international development framework (Australian Agency for International
Development, 2009) based on western values that are incongruent with the
value systems of recipient nations (Taufe’ulungaki, 2002; Thaman 2002). For
many people in Pacific communities there is a concern that this has the
potential to create a dichotomy between what is taught in the home and what
is taught in the schooling system (Rougan, 2002; Sanga, 2002). For this
reason, McDonald (2005) argues, that in aid contexts learning needs to be
constructed within, and respond directly to the socio-cultural contexts that
are unique to local communities rather than promote western educational
frameworks that may have less cultural relevance and meaning.
International development organisations
Since Truman’s inaugural address, a range of international aid agencies
have sprung up in donor nations. International development agencies can be
categorised as either a non-government organisation (NGO) or as a
government organisation. The essential difference between them is the legal
status of the organisation. An NGO is an organisation whose management
47
structure is politically independent of any national government while a
government organisation is dependent on a nation state for guidance.
From a funding position, NGOs and government organisations often agree to
meet specific criteria when they disburse funding for an international
development programme. These criteria include budgets, stakeholders and
timeframes and in this way educational aid programmes can be seen as a
temporary construction that are able to operate in conjunction with national
schooling systems (Sanga, 2002; Sanga 2005b).
AusAID is a major player in the provision of international aid in the Pacific
region. Formerly an NGO, AusAID is now a government organisation that
derives its policy direction and funding directly from the Australian
government. Guided by the MDGs, AusAID provides international
development policy advice and implementation plans to the Australian
government for ratification (Australian Agency for International Development,
2011a). Its primary focus is on poverty reduction and its officers vigorously
advocate the view that this approach will promote stability and prosperity
(Australian Agency for International Development, 2012a). The organisation
works with twenty-one nations in different parts of the world to address
regional and global challenges. To this end, it utilises other Australian
government departments as required (Australian Agency for International
Development, 2011a).
In addition, AusAID is an international development leader in education
initiatives in the Asia Pacific region. It provides fee relief programmes for
students at some primary schools in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa
and Solomon Islands. In Indonesia, AusAID’s development programmes
have helped 330,000 children attend primary school through building
educational infrastructure and establishing teacher training initiatives
(Australian Agency for International Development, 2011a). By the end of the
48
2015-2016 financial year AusAID will have committed approximately $1.6
billion dollars to its international development programmes. Of this sum,
almost 25 percent will be dispersed within the Pacific region (including Papua
New Guinea), a figure that represents half of the total global assistance to
the region (Australian Agency for International Development, 2012b).
The view taken by Australian officials is that these kinds of investments are
likely to reduce poverty by increasing positive outcomes in health and higher
education at the same time as strengthening economic management and
delivery services (Australian Agency for International Development, 2012b).
AusAID explains that approximately three percent of all primary students in
the Pacific will attend a tertiary institution and that the tertiary institutions
themselves are struggling to provide the basic infrastructure to support their
staff and students (Australian Agency for International Development, 2012c).
As such, AusAID has committed $35 million dollars to connect thirty tertiary
institutions to the internet in several across nations (Australian Agency for
International Development, 2012c); another $18 million for 2000 students in
pre-tertiary bridging courses; and, a further $32 million to 2300 tertiary
students enrolled in internationally recognised degree programmes
(Australian Agency for International Development, 2012c). AusAID is the
international development agency that established and maintained the two
educational aid programmes that are examined in this research.
Donors have genuine concerns regarding the allocation, disbursement and
management of their aid (Svensson, 2003) and this raises the potential for
tensions to develop between promoting autonomy and good practice and
ensuring that the aid is used for its intended purpose (OECD, 2003). Many
international development agencies keep a strict separation between the
allocation and disbursement of funds for this reason. Svensson (1995, 2003)
argues that conditional and tied aid is considered by donors to be a means of
increasing the efficiency of the aid delivery process. Thus, some international
development agencies make international development either conditional or
49
tied to a set of specific outcomes in order to increase the likelihood that
international development programmes are successful.
Nations with unstable domestic policies often create weak macroeconomic
conditions. Svensson (1995) argues that this has the potential to increase
the likelihood that a recipient nation will become economically reliant on
international development. Improving the economic conditions within
recipient nations is therefore considered to be an important component of the
development process. This is because if the same amount of international
development were re-directed to nations with sound economic policy,
Svensson (2003) contends that twice as many people could be lifted from
poverty.
To increase the efficiency of conditional and tied aid, contractual agreements
are made as a way of controlling recipient nation state activities in relation to
aid initiatives. In this sense, conditional aid requires the recipient to meet
specific criteria. The criteria is often determined by the donor and may
require the recipient to meet certain obligations before the development
programme begins (ex-ante) or after the programme has been completed
(ex-post). To help ensure that recipient nations are able reach the goals set
by the development programme, disbursement of resources are often ex-
ante regardless of the strength of the nation’s policies (Svensson, 2003).
Tied aid usually requires that a percentage of the funds be spent in the donor
nation state. Tied aid has the advantage for the donor of controlling how
funds are spent by requiring the recipient nation state enter into contracts
that are legally enforceable in the donor nation state. Svensson (1995) notes
that privately-run corporations, enterprises and organisations are introduced
as a third party since they are likely to enforce the contract if only to
maximise their own profitability.
50
The irony of tied and conditional aid is that it often does little to support the
local economy in the recipient nations. If we consider that one of the primary
functions of international development is to increase and support the local
economy, it would seem rational to spend the development funds in the
recipient nation state. However that is not what we see occurring. Instead
the funds are often spent in the donor nation state where a portion of the
funds are returned to the donor in the form of taxes. While this reduces the
expense of the development programme to the donor, it significantly reduces
the overall effectiveness of the programme because the financial benefits
flow outwards to the donor rather than back into local economies.
Historically, development programmes within the education sector have
involved the use of bilateral and multilateral initiatives whereby donor parties
make major decisions about the terms of the agreement (Sanga, 2003).
Additionally, some nations have preferred to align their domestic policies and
research with multilateral and international development policies (Mathisen,
2008) while others focus on specific parts of the education sector to the
detriment of other sectorial areas (Sanga, 2002).
This has had a limiting effect on the autonomy of educational leaders in
recipient nations. From a donor perspective, the advantages of aligning
recipient domestic policy with development partner needs can be
understood. However it means that recipient nations are less likely to be
able to create, manage and maintain development programmes from within
their own context. This is because of the tendency of development partners
to use tied and conditional aid that are require changes to domestic policies
ex-ante. This means that there is a flawed argument that suggests that
donor nations know the recipient context better than the recipients underlying
many international development programmes.
51
Sanga (2005a) explains that one of the issues regarding the relationship
between international development agencies and recipient nations is that
donor nations seldom listen to the needs of the recipient nations. This is of
concern as,
the context, deemed ‘a problem’ is always a Pacific context and never the donors. It is seldom the business of aid relationships to foster an understanding of and between the partners. These are reflective of deep seated attitudes that have become obstacles for the relationship building. (Sanga, 2005a, p. 21).
This is a particular problem in the education sector and this is discussed
further in the following section.
Western values and Pacific schooling systems
For the purposes of this thesis, western values and knowledge refers to the
mainstream values and knowledge structures that are prevalent in the global
community. Values and knowledge of indigenous peoples have a different
underlying philosophy and history. However, it is also accepted that what
constitutes western values and knowledge is the summation of different
cultures whose histories sit easily alongside each other. As such, in the
Pacific context, western knowledge and values are represented by the other.
That is what is not indigenous. In the Pacific context, it is the other that is out
of place, not local culture, values and knowledge.
Huffer and Qalo (2004) argue that while much has been written that
references Pacific perspectives of international development, “ignorance or
dismissal of Pacific thought prevails in academia, which in turn has impacted
on policymaking in Pacific countries” (Huffer & Qalo, 2004, p. 88). According
to Taufe’ulungaki (2002), in recent years Pacific nations are increasingly
adopting educational practices that are based on Western values, beliefs and
knowledge structures. In some cases the “Pacific Islanders who authored or
assisted in the preparation of such plans are responsible for their
52
implementation, monitoring and supervision were western educated and
have partially or wholly internalised western values, beliefs and knowledge
systems” (Taufe’ulungaki, 2002, p. 9). Thaman (2003) adds that that “much
of what we label Pacific studies is the fruit of western scholarship and
research” (Thaman, 2003, p. 3).
In addition, the family, cultural and social values held by the indigenous
peoples of Pacific nations are often very different from those of the West.
These cultural differences have the potential to be cognitively dissonant for
pupils because what is taught at school may be very different from what is
learned at home (Roughan, 2002). Coxon and Munce (2008) contend that
the influence of the Western world on Pacific education is considerable
(Coxon & Munce, 2008). In line with this, Thaman (2003) argues that the
globalising nature of education in the Pacific disempowers Pacific peoples,
“especially those that are most removed from western knowledge and
values” (Thaman, 2003, p. 7). This has had the effect of destroying some
aspects of Pacific cultures including; language, and social, political and
economic structures (Thaman, 2003). As Konai Thaman (1995) notes,
The introduction of formal education to Oceania last century meant the promotion, through the manifest as well as the hidden curriculum, of the dominant values and ideologies of European cultures (the United Kingdom and France in particular) and, more recently, of Australia, New Zealand and the United States (Thaman, 1995, p. 724).
In the Pacific region, teachers are “expected to bridge the cultural gaps that
exist between the expectations of the school curriculum and those of the
home cultures of their students” (Thaman, 2009b, p. 2). Today, education in
the Pacific is not concerned with cultural development. Instead it tends to
educate students for a career within the urban industrial sector and the cash
economy (Thaman, 1995).
53
Although they were not writing about cross-cultural contexts in the Pacific,
the multi-cultural education writers, Banks and McGee Banks (2001)
suggests that a number of school practices reinforce negative ethnic
stereotypes. This can be harmful to students and this is contrary to the
assumption that ethnic diversity has a positive impact on the larger societal
structure. Each ethnic group places value on what is considered to be
“normal” or “typical” and this gives each group its own identity that is distinct
from other groups. A similar situation exists in Pacific education aid
programmes where the values and worldviews of the donor nation are seen
as normal and desirable whilst the cultural practices and beliefs of Pacific
communities are marginalised. As Eckermann (1994) argues, however,
differing ethnic groups cannot be compared or measured against another
and “one culture cannot be any better than another, one culture cannot be
superior to another” (Eckermann, 1994, p. 3). This is because a cultural
group is validated from within the culture that creates and maintains it. As
such there is a need for recipient nations to value and promote cultural
differences in a way that allows multiple perceptions of what is normal to co-
exist (Escobar, 1992).
Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative for Pacific Peoples
The Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative for Pacific Peoples (RPEIPP)
began as an NZAid assisted programme undertaken by Pacific educators
who have embedded indigenous knowledge and collaborative networks in
emerging Pacific graduates. By responding to the need to strengthen
ownership of the formal education systems across the Pacific region, and
create a clear vision for formal education in Pacific nation states (Nabobo-
baba, 2012, Sanga, 2016), RPEIPP has constructed pathways to bridge
traditional and globalising contexts. RPEIPP has begun to gain traction
within the schooling systems of the Pacific region. RPEIPP members have
been instrumental in encouraging Pacific students to excel within the
schooling system, and translate that knowledge into career outcomes. As
such the RPEIPP network has grown significantly as members naturally
54
progress in their careers while maintaining their RPEIPP networks and
relationships.
Although the impact of the RPEIPP is not well documented (Sanga, 2016),
the outcomes that has been achieved is undeniable. The RPEIPP has acted
as a catalyst for change in Pacific education and has held education systems
to account from a Pacific perspective (Thaman, 2004 cited in Sanga 2016)
with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (2009, cited in Sanga 2016)
explaining that the RPEIPP has been the primary promoter of Pacific
languages and culture in Education. With this in mind, the RPEIPP has
encouraged development of Pacific people in three ways.
Firstly RPIEPP provides a place and space for Pacific students to be
mentored. Pacific students tend to find navigating the University experience
challenging. By providing mentoring and a space to share stories and
experiences, RPEIPP has been able to decode the University context for
many Pacific students. By supporting Pacific students in this way,
completion rates have improved creating a remodelling effect for students
that enter the schooling system at a later date. This is one way that Pacific
peoples have strengthened the local community.
Secondly RPEIPP has developed Pacific leaders. RPEIPP has created
leadership development pathways to enable Pacific peoples to experience
leadership from a Pacific frame. By creating networks and spaces where
Pacific students are able to share experiences, notions of Pacific leadership
are able to be transferred. The flow on effects are that when the students
become industry professionals, they are more easily able to bridge traditional
and global contexts using a Pacific lens.
55
Thirdly RPEIPP has impacted on the number of graduates who have chosen
to work within the international development sector. Pacific graduates are
well aware of the ways that donor partners construct development
programmes. Many have experienced this while growing up, or in schools,
or when they apply for scholarships. Graduates who have been involved in
RPEIPP and gone on to work within the international development sector are
well attuned to the needs of recipient nations from the grassroots level. The
RPEIPP has been instrumental in developing domestic development
consultants, who are now well positioned to replace international
development consultants, should donors become willing to make the change.
The RPEIPP and their networks have become influential in the protection of
Pacific knowledge by purposefully and intently interrogating contemporary
schooling structures. Furthermore, by supporting Pacific students, RPEIPP
has created mentoring and leadership pathways that are largely unknown to
contemporary leadership literature. This has resulted in an increase in the
number of Pacific graduates, who are able to position themselves easily
within the traditional and global contexts.
Education and its relationship to poverty
In the Pacific, resources for schools are increasingly scarce as the
expectations of what is needed for a universal education is expanded (Coxon
& Munce, 2008). This is despite the fact that many Pacific nations have
invested heavily in education and donors have also contributed to the
provision of resources and expertise. For this reason, local communities are
expected to fill the shortfall. In communities where there are high levels of
poverty, however, this creates many hardships.
Economic growth in recipient nations has long been recognised as not being
sufficient to mitigate poverty on its own. Accordingly, as Tarabini (2010)
argues, “education has acquired an increasing international legitimacy as a
56
preferential strategy in the fight against poverty” (Tarabini, 2010, p 205).
Education is therefore seen as an important instrument of poverty reduction
because education leads to the formation of human capital and this is an
important factor of economic growth (Awan, Malik, Sarwar, & Waqas, 2011;
Tilak, 2002). Tilak (2002) supports this view, arguing that “[e]ducation
together with training imparts skills and productive knowledge, and
transforms human beings into more valuable human capital.” (Tilak, 2002, p.
192). Focusing on educational initiatives is important to poverty reduction in
recipient nations as it is most prevalent in illiterate households and declines
consistently as the level of education rises (Tilak, 2002). Over time, poverty
and its subsidiaries are likely to reduce as the quality and quantity of
educational success increases.
Approximately 20 percent of the Pacific population are between the ages of
15 and 24, with a large proportion of them either being unemployed or
underemployed. This is a contributing factor to poverty because there is a
lack of appropriate training and education that is able to link students to
employment of self-employment opportunities. Consequently young people
are overrepresented in high risk activities that increase the crime rate and
contributes to social instability generally (Coxon & Munce, 2008). Awan,
Malik, Sarwar and Waqas (2011) explain that education is able to increase
the skills and productivity of households and in doing so is likely to increase
the overall standard of living, however, poverty is an impediment to achieving
this. In this way economic growth, education and poverty have a cyclic
relationship.
The cyclic relationship between education and poverty
Educational outcomes have a cyclic relationship with local economic growth
and poverty. The literature suggests that as educational outcomes increase
local economic growth will improve. This occurs because the resulting
labour force from a well-educated population is likely to reflect the economic
needs of local communities. It is believed that this will reduce poverty locally
57
by increasing cash flows in local communities and in doing so is likely to
improve educational outcomes for students. When poverty is reduced, the
argument goes, educational outcomes for students are likely to improve in
ways that further support the local economies. However the opposite may
also be true. If educational outcomes are diminished then local economic
growth is likely to decline leading to an increase in local poverty and placing
additional demands on schools which in turn negatively affects educational
outcomes.
Local Economic
Growth
Educational Local Poverty
Outcomes Levels
Figure 2.1: Cycle of poverty, education and economic growth
International development programmes aim to improve economic growth in
recipient nations at both local and national levels. However poverty levels
also affect educational outcomes insofar as students who live in poverty
have poorer educational outcomes than those who do not live in
impoverished conditions.
This becomes a cyclical process because of the impact that educational
outcomes have on the growth of local economies. When student educational
outcomes are poor the resulting labour market is affected. Because this is a
cyclical relationship, it can be influenced either positively or negatively by
making changes in any one or more of the constituents. Tarabini (2010)
acknowledges that education has become the preferred strategy to
58
decreasing poverty and that making changes to the economic growth of a
nation is not sufficient in itself to decrease poverty levels.
Poverty is one outcome of poor economic growth that influences educational
outcomes. Other than changing the subjective positioning of what
constitutes poverty, real change can only be met by influencing the
educational outcomes of students or improving the local economic growth, or
a combination of both. It is this cyclic relationship that links educational
leadership and international development to decreasing poverty in recipient
nations. As such the ways in which educational leaders engage with
international development is of interest.
Summary of chapter two
In this chapter I have given an overview of the aid context that this study took
place within. In particular, I have focussed on the MDGs and the United
Nations attempts to reduce poverty and its subsidiaries in recipient nations
through the MDGs. To this end, eight subsidiaries of poverty have been
identified. The MDGS are, (i) to eradicate of extreme poverty and hunger, (ii)
to achieve universal primary education, (iii) to promote gender equality and
empower women, (iv) to reduce child mortality, (v) to improve maternal
health, (vi) to combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases, (vii) to ensure
environmental sustainability, and (viii) establish global partnership for
development (United Nations, 2000).
According to Coxon and Munce (2008), Pacific nations are increasingly
dependent on international development where the main objective is the
economic development of recipient nations (Fuhrer, 1996). International
development policies used by donor nations became mechanisms of control
over recipient nations akin to colonisation (Escobar, 1997). Pacific nations
are dependent on international development because they cannot continue
current levels of service without development assistance (Campbell, 1992).
59
However because the development assistance needed is a conceptualised
combination of technology, capital, education and policy (Escobar, 1992),
Educational leadership and international development have a natural
relationship.
International development has not been as successful as anticipated
(Australian Agency for International Development, 2009; Taufe’ulungaki,
2002; Thaman 2002) and increased expenditure has had few gains in terms
of per capita income levels or standard of living (World Bank, 1998). Berg
(2000) explains it has been difficult to design and implement international
development programmes that increase economic growth and reduce
poverty. According to Truman (1949), poverty was a barrier to economic
growth and that this was the case in both developed and developing nations.
International development agencies are able to influence recipient nations
because some recipient nations are willing to align their domestic policies
with the policies of international development agencies (Mathisen, 2008). In
the Pacific, donor nations have been able to influence the educational
outcomes of students using international development programmes.
Taufe’ulungaki (2002) explains that in some cases the Pacific people who
authored, implemented, monitored and supervised these programmes had
partially or wholly internalised western beliefs, values and knowledge
structures. In some cases, the family, ethnic and social values in Pacific
nations are different to those of the West, and that what is taught in the
school may also be different to what is taught in the home (Roughan, 2002).
Though the local traditions and practices may be well entrenched, the effect
of the western world in the Pacific cannot be denied (Coxon & Munce, 2008).
Providing an educational experience that is globalising in nature tends to
have a devastating effect on Pacific cultures including their language and
social, political and economic structures (Thaman, 2003).
Education in the Pacific tends to prepare students for careers rather than
develop them culturally. This is because since the introduction of the formal
60
schooling system to the Pacific, western ideals and values have been
promoted (Thaman, 1995) that focus on preparing students for the
workforce.
According to Tarabini (2010), increasing economic growth in recipient
nations is not sufficient to mitigate the subsidiaries of poverty by itself, and
that education has become the preferred strategy. This is because
education is an important factor in the economic growth of the local economy
(Awan, Malik, Sarwar, Waga, 2011). It seems that there is a lack of
appropriate training and education that is able to link students to employment
opportunities. Without these opportunities issues of poverty cannot be
mitigated. It is well understood that poverty negatively influences
educational outcomes. Consequently poverty, education and economic
growth have a cyclic relationship. In the next chapter I discuss these ideas in
the context of the development and leadership literature that has guided this
study.
61
CHAPTER THREE
LITERATURE REVIEW
In the previous chapter I examined the context of international aid in the
Pacific and argued that current international development practices have not
been as successful as anticipated (Australian Agency for International
Development, 2009; Taufe’ulungaki, 2002; Thaman 2002). I suggested that
this may be due to the colonizing nature of approaches to aid. Moreover, I
contended that the use of conditional and tied aid has the potential to stifle
the efficacy of development programmes even though they are intended to
increase efficiency. Further, the use of tied and conditional aid tends to
favour recipient nations that agree to changes in their domestic policy to
align with the policy direction of development agencies and this leaves other
sovereign nations that wish to retain their political autonomy in a difficult
situation.
Another issue discussed in the previous chapter was the contention that
international development programmes contribute to the erosion of traditional
knowledge and indigenous cultures in recipient communities. I argued that
the use of tied and conditional aid ex-ante by donor nations creates a
situation where these cultural losses are likely to occur in the future. Indeed,
much international development is based on the idea that some aspects of
life in recipient nations need to be replaced by those of donor nations and
this has had a detrimental effect in many communities.
International development was also shown to be in a cyclical relationship
with education and poverty because under-resourced education systems are
likely to produce a weak labour market in the local economy. This, in turn, is
likely to increase poverty levels within local communities and this can have a
negative impact on the educational outcomes for students. However this
relationship also flows in the opposite direction. A strong education system,
62
on the other hand, is likely to produce strong educational outcomes for
students which donors believe will produce a vibrant labour market and
increase cash flow in local economies. Their assertion is that increased cash
flows reduce poverty and as a result, educational outcomes are likely to
improve. Tarabini (2010) notes that educational programmes are the
preferred mechanism that donor nations use to mitigate poverty and this
supports the idea that international development, education and poverty are
constituents of a cyclical relationship.
In this chapter, I review the literature regarding international development
and leadership. In particular, I focus on the construction of development
programmes involving the education sector. To that end, I examine two
seemingly distinct literature strands, one being international development
and the other being the philosophies and practice of leadership and show
why they need to be consciously linked together when considering aid
programmes in the Pacific.
A Pacific view of poverty
Poverty is a measure of material and financial wealth whose base of
comparison is reflective of those that have material and financial wealth.
However, one of the challenges that Pacific communities have with
measurements of poverty is that the criteria by which poverty is measured,
cannot give value to the subsistence economy (Abbot and Pollard, 2004,
Bryant-Tokalau, 1995). Measurements of poverty are often cast from the
lens of the outsider, rather than from the grassroots perspective. This means
that communities that do not focus on the accumulation of wealth as a
priority, and rely on a subsistence economy may not perceive themselves as
being impoverished, while those from other contexts may observe aspects of
poverty.
63
In the Pacific context, there is an emphasis placed on communal ways of
interacting with others. This has resulted in a belief that poverty should not
be a part of life, and the impacts of poverty can be mitigated. With this in
mind, “the suggestion that there might be poverty in some form is not,
therefore, something that many governments or people in the region are
prepared to accept (Abbot and Pollard, 2004). Despite this, Pacific nations
are experiencing increased levels of poverty in urban areas. This can be
seen in declining health literacy, overcrowded housing, and high school drop-
out rates (Bryant-Tokalau, 1995). In urban areas of the Pacific, the effect of
globalisation is more apparent. The changing urban landscape has
manifested examples of poverty that are identified by donor nations to
validate their work in the region.
Globalisation and Neoliberalist ideals within an international
development framework
Globalisation can be described in two ways. From Kotz’s (2002) perspective,
globalisation is “an increase in the volume of cross-border economic
interactions and resources flows, producing a qualitative shift in the relations
between national economies and between nation states” (p. 70). However
Robertson (2012) explains that globalisation is “a process involving the
increasing domination of one societal or regional culture over all others” (p.
191). Even though Kotz (2002) and Robertson (2012) hold differing
perspectives about what constitutes globalisation, there is some agreement
that globalisation involves a change in relationships between geographical
spaces.
It cannot be denied that globalisation is occurring in the Pacific context.
Economic and social globalisation is omnipresent. In urban spaces, global
goods and services are readily available. Also present in urban areas is a
greater degree of cultural homogenisation between the indigenous culture
and cultures from other nation states. Interestingly, globalisation has had
less impact on rural areas of the Pacific. As such, rural areas tend to be
64
more traditional in terms of embedded knowledge structures, economic
transactions do not always involve money and cultural competencies.
Globalisation and neoliberalism are different, in that globalisation refers to
changing relationships. On the other hand, neoliberalism is positioned from
a financial perspective and focuses on creating ideal economic market
conditions by reducing state intervention. Neoliberalism is underpinned by
the belief that optimal economic growth can be achieved when markets are
not influenced by the state. By removing state interference, markets will be
unregulated, but they will also be open and competitive (Brenner &
Theodore, 2002, Kotz, 2002). State intervention within the free market
model (especially to correct market failures) is viewed with suspicion as it is
likely to create more challenges than it solves (Kotz, 2002). Consequently,
neoliberalism advocates for minimal state involvement in the financial
markets domestically and internationally.
Within the domestic economy, neoliberalism intends to disassemble what
remains of the welfare state by; privatising public assets, reduce social
welfare programmes, deregulating business, and reducing tax for business
and those that appear to be investing in the economy. However within the
international economy, neoliberalism advocates for the free movement of
money, goods, services and capital between nation states. Although this
does not include free cross-border movement of people (Kotz, 2002)
While neoliberalism aims to create self-regulating markets, service deliveries
of development programmes are unable to be free from the influence of the
state. The methodological process that guides international development
cannot be free from state intervention for two reasons. Firstly, international
development is largely funded by donor nations, and funding directions are
determined by policy directives. Non-Government organisations (NGOs)
also fund development programmes. However, NGOs tend to work
alongside state funded programmes if only to ensure that service delivery is
not duplicated. In a practical world, donor nations are influencing the areas
of focus of NGO’s because both are filling the gaps while eliminating
duplication of service. Examples of this can be observed in the Pacific
65
region. The church and donor nations work alongside each other to provide
resources, infrastructure and funding to schools, independently but
complimentary to each other.
Secondly, recipient nation governments tend to negotiate with donors who
provide development programmes services. As such, recipient nation states
always play a role in the way that development programmes are conceived
and implemented. While there are some concerns that recipient nation
states are not able to influence programme construction significantly,
development partners often need recipient nation state approval to deliver
development programmes.
While the ideals of neoliberalism intend to free markets from the influence of
the state, this is not a lived reality for recipients of funded development
programmes. State intervention is the driving catalyst that provides the
framework for development programmes to take place. Conditional and tied
methodologies used in the construction of international development
programmes mitigate the advantages of neoliberalism when transferring
goods and services between nation states. Consequently neoliberalism sits
uneasily alongside international development, co-existing within the same
frame, but not working together.
International aid and the education sector
Much of the literature on educational aid focuses on the tensions between
global development approaches and the impact of these on local contexts
(McDonald, 2005). Pacific nations have given considerable attention to
establishing formal schooling systems especially at primary school level but
this has sometimes been to the detriment of establishing locally administered
vocational and training education (Sanga, 2005b). Education systems that
do not provide access to further and higher education can contribute to urban
drift as young people move away from rural communities to urban centers for
employment. These kinds of education systems can also disenfranchise
young people who are denied the opportunities and advantages of advanced
education (Dorovolomo, 2005; Kiddle, 2005).
66
The reality for many students in the Pacific is that when they complete their
education they remain under-qualified and lack experience in an increasingly
competitive global job market. Most find employment in low-paid jobs but
others do not and either “hang around” in the cities or return to their villages
without the skills to enhance life in their home communities (Dorovolomo,
2005). In this way, the replacement of traditional ways of life with the values
of the global economy has a detrimental effect on the lives of many Pacific
youth.
Several commentators have noted that educational aid is conceived within a
western economic and philosophical framework and have commented on the
tensions that this produces in local Pacific contexts (Taufe’ulungaki , 2002;
Thaman, 2002; Van Peer, 2005). Others have highlighted the temporary
nature of international development programmes and their focus on
educating students for a global labour market for which they lack experience
and qualifications (Sanga, 2005b).
Coxon and Tolley (2005) argue that international development is
underpinned by several assumptions. Firstly, they argue that donors in the
West assume that Western development approaches can be applied
anywhere. Secondly, there is an assumption that psychological development
is an important pre-condition for economic development. Thirdly, there is a
belief that traditional and indigenous customs and values are counter-
productive to the accumulation of wealth and that the replacement of
indigenous customs and values will lead to modernisation. Finally, there is a
supposition that international development will accelerate the modernisation
process. From a donor’s perspective, the way that education aid is
positioned then is considered to be, “important in capacity-building as a
development strategy, so that the ‘right’ development decisions are made.”
(Coxon & Tolley, 2005, p. 42).
67
These kinds of ideas about educational provision are now very deeply
embedded in ideologies and philosophies about domestic and international
trading markets and economic forces. Capitalistic methodologies with short-
term goals shape the relationship between donors and recipients. The
extensive use of fixed-term contracts and external consultants militates
against people forming long-term and meaningful relationships in
international aid environments and this in turn limits the effectiveness of
many development initiatives (McGrath, 2001).
External consultants also tend to not stay in recipient nations in the long-term
and when they leave they take their expertise and knowledge with them. In
addition, because international development programmes are generally
considered to be temporary constructions, when programmes end and
external contractors return home they leave their development partners
within the recipient nation state to continue on without the support structures
that were available while the programme was operating. The temporary
nature of international development programmes can therefore be seen as a
contributing factor to the failure of development programmes to successfully
attain the MDGs.
Alongside the problems that arise from the ephemeral nature of aid
programmes, other factors such as the local political environment, division of
labour and internal incentive structures make it difficult for international
development organisations to learn from their mistakes (Berg, 2000). For
this reason, donor-recipient relationships continue to be founded on unequal
power relationships where the donor is able to influence and dictate the
terms of the relationship (Coxon & Tolley, 2005). Having said that, not all
donors operate in the same way and some do understand the need for good
governance, accountability, contractility and participation (Sanga, 2005a).
68
On the ground, many aid consultants have been slow to realise that internal
issues such as high staff turnover, poor information flow and a tendency to
reproduce methodologies that have been successful in the past but which
may not be relevant to other programmes have been shown to reduce the
efficacy of international development programmes (Berg, 2000)
Poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals
As noted previously, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals are
a set of eight goals aimed at reducing poverty by 2015 (United Nations,
2000). They are premised on the belief that by making economic,
environmental and social advances, poverty and its underlying causes will be
mitigated allowing significant gains to be made in recipient nations’
economies (Winter, 2009). Members of the United Nations have agreed that
the MDGs are achievable and that each goal should have its own target
deadline. Monitoring by the United Nations and NGOs has provided a
comprehensive breakdown of associated development initiatives, including
an analysis of expected outcomes. Now that the 2015 timeframe for
achieving the MDGs is drawing close, however, it is clear that donor nations
have not been able to realise the MDGs on schedule.
Interestingly, the United Nations has recently expressed its commitment to
increasing indigenous input into the development and design of future
international development programmes. This is an important consideration
and in line with contemporary thinking. Hartley (2008), for example, argues
that a key factor in reducing poverty is the sustainable development of
indigenous people within their own contexts. In this regard, drawing on
indigenous perspectives to meet the educational challenges that are faced
by indigenous communities may provide spaces to develop lasting global
partnerships that are appropriate for the region. Certainly, this creates room
for contextualised knowledge about indigenous communities to be included
in the design of schooling systems and programmes. However, as I will
show later in this thesis, the acknowledgement of indigenous Pacific
69
perspectives is not currently a widespread practice in the development
sector. As a general rule, donor nations set their own agendas for recipient
nations and devise the strategic direction of development programmes which
are almost always more closely with the needs and value systems of the
donor nation.
Resolving issues in the donor recipient relationship
Several nations in the Pacific have not yet achieved key performance
indicators with regard to the MDGs. This is because in some cases,
development plans and strategies have not been effective while in other
cases, resources have not been used efficiently (Australian Agency for
International Development, 2009). Furthermore, there is sometimes very little
co-ordination between donor nations and recipient nations and this is
compounded by a lack of moderation with regard to how different donors
report against individual MDGs (Australian Agency for International
Development, 2011a).
Accordingly, members of recipient nations have expressed concerns about
the nature and intent of international development programmes and some
commentators question the motives that drive international development in
small nations (McDonald, 2005). Also, some donors are aware that recipient
communities have expressed concerns that donor practices, priorities and
systems do not always fit well with national development priorities and
systems but have done little in response (OECD, 2003).
The shortage of specialised personnel is often used to justify the use of
external consultants within the international development framework (World
Bank, 1998; Coyne and Bray, 1999). This in itself is not a solution as senior
administrators may not be able to fully digest the recommendations made by
the consultants, and the recommendations themselves are commonly biased
70
towards use of larger systems rather than the lived reality of small nations
(Coyne & Bray, 1999).
Overly complex bureaucracies and a lack of awareness about economies of
scale also create barriers to providing quality education in small nations
(Coyne and Bray, 1999). In the Pacific context, international development
has done little to improve the overall quality of life or income per capita
(World Bank, 1998). This is not an uncommon experience as there is no
universal agreement that external funding of education through international
development is either desirable or effective (Coyne & Bray, 1999).
Small nation states
There is no consensus about what constitutes a small nation in the
international development literature. Some researchers define a small nation
in terms of the size of the population while others refer to geospatial
landmass. It is generally accepted that small nations have a population less
than 1.5 million people and this number is used by the Commonwealth
Secretariat to describe small nations in its programme on small states
(Atchoarena, Dias da Graca & Marquez, 2008; Coyne and Bray, 1999).
There is widespread agreement, however, that small nations in the Pacific
share several common features and development challenges (Thaman,
2009a). For example, nations with very small populations tend to be remote
and isolated. In the Pacific, they are often susceptible to natural disasters
and have limited economic diversification. Given these factors, it is often the
case that remittances play an important part in the financial sustainability of
these communities and in this regard, uncertainty about regular income
levels are linked to higher rates of poverty (Atchoarena, Dias da Graca &
Marquez, 2008).
Many recipient nations in the Pacific region have other distinctive features
that are unique to their small size (Coyne & Bray, 1999; Thaman, 2009a).
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For example, geographical isolation makes it difficult to recruit staff with
suitable professional qualifications (Coyne and Bray, 1999; World Bank,
1998; Sanga, 2005b). This in turn leads to high staff turnover (Maha, 2009),
declining revenues, unplanned infrastructure expansions (Sanga, 2005b) and
budget and regulatory institutions and processes that are inadequate for the
particular circumstances of local communities (World Bank, 1998).
A further problem for many development agencies in small nations is that
specialist jobs often have limited human capital resources to draw from.
Consequently, these jobs are often done by people who do not have the
necessary skills or knowledge (Singh, 2002; Coyne & Bray, 1999). Donors
and recipients in small countries often attempt to compensate for skill
shortages by overstaffing with unqualified personnel and this can have a
negative effect on outcomes as well. (World Bank, 1998).
International support for the Millennium Development Goals
Since the MDGs were ratified, a number of symposia have taken place that
have led to a refining and refocusing of the Goals. The 2002 International
Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, for
example, focused on the financial aspects of development. At the end of this
gathering, an agreement known as the Monterrey Consensus was drawn up
and signatories agreed to increase funding for development although they
acknowledged at the time that the solution did not lie in funding per se but
rather in ensuring that it was used efficiently and effectively (Human
Development Network Key Correspondent Team, 2011).
To achieve this, a clear set of classifications was established making it
possible to identify nations that needed development assistance and had
sufficient infrastructure and human capital to support development initiatives.
Since economic growth is seen as a key component in the improvement of
living standards, the Monterrey Consensus emphasised the need for
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recipient nations to improve their access to the global market. This priority
was put in place because the signatories believed that trade alone would be
unable to solve issues of poverty and increased levels of aid development
funding needed to be made available so that the MDGs could be realistically
attained (Human Development Network Key Correspondent Team, 2011).
The Monterrey Consensus provides a financial base that has since been
used to address the MDGs by expecting recipient nations to be responsible
for their own social and economic development (United Nations, 2003).
Under the Consensus, there is a belief that self-sufficiency requires a move
away from reliance on international development programmes towards
establishing market economy-based initiatives (United Nation, 2003; World
Trade Organisation, 2011). However, it also needs to be taken into account
that reduced levels of infrastructure, offshore flows of profit and limited
resource capacity limit economic growth in recipient nations. This problem is
often compounded by supply constraints that affect their ability to participate
and benefit from international development agreements (World Trade
Organisation, 2011).
Another policy document that is in line with the Monterrey Consensus is the
Rome Declaration on Harmonization. In 2003, leaders from NGOs and
representatives of donor and recipient nations gathered to discuss ways of
streamlining international development initiatives while giving a clear re-
commitment to mitigating poverty, supporting sustainable development and
achieving economic growth within democratic social and political
frameworks. (Rome Declaration on Harmonization, 2003).
The Rome Declaration on Harmonization provides a mechanism to increase
cost efficacy through greater co-operation and good practice. This includes
ensuring that international development is in line with partner country
priorities. It also supports research into international development efficiency
73
and reviewed the policies, practices and procedures of donor and recipient
agencies and institutions (Rome Declaration on Harmonization, 2003). The
Monterrey Consensus was further buttressed by the Joint Marrakech
Memorandum which supports developing nations to strengthen their capacity
to manage international development programmes (Joint Marrakech
Memorandum, 2004).
During negotiations about the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, state
leaders agreed to make measurable changes to the traditional international
aid delivery methodology (OECD, 2008). Focusing on international
development efficiency, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness supports
a shift in how development aid is delivered. It also seeks to increase
accountability, eliminating duplication while increasing consistency between
donors and recipients.
Further support for these ideas were put in place in the Accura Agenda for
Action. This policy statement highlighted several major challenges for
international development relationships including maintaining country
ownership, effective and inclusive partnership, and accountability. The
Accura Agenda for Action states that donor nations should utilise the
recipients countries own infrastructure in the first instance and provide tools
in which programmes can be monitored for quality assurance. In addition the
Accura Agenda for Action called on donors to help recipient nations at a
national level to reform society in an effort to achieve the MDGs (World
Bank, 2008).
In addition, to help Pacific Nations reach the MDG deadline of 2015, the
Cairns Compact was ratified. The Compact was intended to increase the
internal motivation of member nation states to follow MDGs guidelines, while
simultaneously increasing economic development within the Pacific. To
allow this to occur it was expected that the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat
74
community would co-ordinate the available developmental resources
efficiently and effectively. However it is anticipated that any pooling and
redeployment of resources would benefit Pacific Island Forum Secretariat
nation states in achieving MDGs by 2015. The Compact recognises the
importance of the private sector in achieving MDGs and strives to improve
governance and service delivery, improve infrastructure, improve
relationships between key players, use best practice protocols, and ensure
that Pacific Island Forum Secretariat members remain committed to the
MDGs.
The MDGs provide an explanation of the current schema that international
development agencies and donor nations are working under but they have
been modified in the ways that they are supported and implemented so that
they remain achievable within the desired timeframe. However, in reality, in
the Pacific, this has not been the case as one AusAID report states,
“[a]chieving all of the MDGs across the Pacific region by the deadline is
unlikely” (Australian Agency for International Development, 2009).
Thus far, this section has explored some of the agreements that have been
put in place as a means of achieving the MDGs. These agreements have
significantly shaped the development models that are currently in place in
different parts of the world. However, we also need to understand why
development models do not always work well in practice. One of the
theoretical tools that can provide an understanding of this lies in post-
development theory. Post-development theory critiques the development
model and offers some explanations as to why aid does not always achieve
the anticipated and predicted outcomes. By viewing the current international
development model with a post-development lens an alternative narrative is
uncovered that provides some useful explanations about the status quo. The
next section explores some of these theoretical ideas further.
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A post-development lens
Escobar (2007) argues that post-development theory allows for the
possibility of creating alternative discourses that are not bound by the
constructions of existing development models. He further contends that the
existing development regime is defined by the need to change the practice of
knowing and doing and the economy of the truth. He suggests that
indigenous knowledge needs to be built in to the design of projects and the
decision-making so process so that indigenous groups have autonomy within
the aid relationship. He also notes that highlighting alternative strategies
produced by social movements, and by focusing on adaptations, subversions
and resistance of local people to development interventions are particularly
useful.
According to Coxon and Tolley (2005) donor nations share a series of
assumptions about international aid. For example, there is a strong belief
that the development model can be applied in any context, that individual
and community values need to change and that indigenous customs and
ways of life inhibit the accumulation of wealth and replacing them would help
economic growth. Leaders of donor programmes are often pre-occupied with
the notion that traditional indigenous lifestyles are in need of change and it is
common for them to look to the education system to hasten this kind of social
change. Development programmes usually align well with donor nation’s
strategic direction for the region. Development programmes tend to
emphasise the movement of recipient nations towards a lifestyle that
prioritises the accumulation of wealth (Coxon & Tolley, 2005; Sanga, 2005b).
Post-development theory critiques existing development models and their
underlying development theories as “being culturally insensitive and
operationally ineffective” (Krause, 2013, p. 224). From this perspective, the
current development model can be seen as a problem-driven, policy-
orientated mechanism designed to provide development assistance to the
recipient nation state. It is problem-driven because it seeks to solve the
76
problem of poverty. It is policy-orientated because development
programmes are driven by policies that are generally determined by donor
nations.
Financial conditions within the development model provide justification for
the use of conditional and tied methodologies. Tied and conditional
methodologies are used to establish transparency in the financial systems of
international development while reducing the flows of financial assistance
into non-allocated spaces. This is largely related to Western ideologies,
most notably from those that originated at the Bretton Woods conference,
which underpin current international development methodologies.
Evidence is mounting that suggests donor requirements and processes
involved in the contemporary international development model is creating
unproductive transaction costs that can limit the development capacity of
recipient nations (Ward, Sichuan & Banks, 2005). Inefficiencies in the
international development structure may include the leakage of resources
into non-allocated or non-productive expenditure that would otherwise have
been spent on productive uses (Mosley, 1987).
Formulated as the macro-micro paradox, research has found it difficult to
establish a correlation between the gross national product (the total market
value of goods and services produced by a nation in a given year), and the
value of aid delivered to that country (Mosley, 1987). Simply put, the total
financial impact of aid is often less than the international development
received by the recipient (Howes, Otor & Rogers, 2001, Ward, Sichuan &
Banks, 2005). This means that there is not a linear relationship between the
inputs of the development aid and the anticipated or expected outputs. It
also means that there are financial losses when international development is
given to a recipient nations. At some point the financial inputs of the
development dollar are either; transformed into social gains that are not
77
measured in financial terms, or lost in non-recoverable and non-assignable
expenditure.
Many leaders of donor agencies who support the development model do not
seem to have a clear understanding of the acculturating effect that
international development has on the Pacific context. It appears that leaders
of donor nations (and organisations) are more concerned about efficient aid
delivery rather than appropriate aid delivery. As Huffer and Qalo (2004)
argue,
Economists, for the most part, have been so busy promoting “development” and looking for ways to successfully integrate Pacific societies into the world of western rationalism that they have come to see Pacific attitudes as a constraint or barrier to their mission rather than as an area to be taken seriously. (Huffer & Qalo, 2004, p. 89).
From a post-development point of view, not achieving the MDGs allows for
an alternative discourse to the development of recipient nations to take
place. The current development model places Western knowledge at the
center of practice while a post-development perspective allows for a practice
that is based on local knowledge and customs to occupy the same space.
Not achieving the MDGs as anticipated, even after fine-tuning the
methodology, allows us to question whether the current international
development model is fit for purpose. It seems that it is not able to meet the
anticipated outcomes and as such there may be other issues at play that
have yet to be uncovered.
The current international development methodology is transactional in nature
and there is a growing expectation that the financial inputs are able to create
the desired outcomes. However seven decades of international
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development programmes have shown that this does not seem to be
occurring. There is a pattern here in that the total financial outputs are less
than the financial inputs. Consequently there are some financial losses that
tied and conditional aid is not able to resolve.
Furthermore, the current international development model is insensitive to
the needs of the local community in terms of respecting their traditional
culture. Instead there is a push from international development programmes
to acculturate and integrate Western values and ideals into the local culture
so that the accumulation of wealth is a priority. This has not always been the
case in many traditional based communities. Because of this, traditional
cultures seem to be divergent from the western values that international
development programmes are promoting.
The way that people in local communities perceive the world and the way
that those in international development agencies view the world are often
very different. Because they come from different cultural systems the
leadership values and practices that the two groups enact are also very
different. This is because leadership typologies are constructed from within
the cultural contexts that create them.
The difference in leadership typologies may mean that there will be some
disagreement about to how international development programmes should
be contextualised on the ground. This is important with regard to
international development as there is a point in the process where aid
agencies need to engage with local experts to contextualise the programme
in the local area. If these two groups see the world in fundamentally different
ways there may be friction and frustration on the part of the party that gives
in to the needs of the other.
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Summary of international development
The relationship between international development partners and recipient
nations in terms of leadership development is weak. It is weak because
development programmes only occur when they align well with the strategic
direction of the donor nation. When this is used as the basis of what
development programmes occur in recipient nations, we realise that
recipients needs will only be met when they align well with the donor
strategic plan. When the recipients needs that fall outside of this scope will
not be met by donor partners.
Current development methodologies use education as a strategy to mitigate
poverty (Tarabini, 2010) and as an important development strategy so that
the right decisions are made (Coxon & Tolley, 2005). Education is one of the
tools that is used in international development programmes that is intended
to make social changes that can be applied to any national or regional
context. It is used as a means of replacing traditional and cultural customs
with alternatives that value the accumulation of wealth and that the very
nature of international development will accelerate the process of
modernisation in recipient nations (Coxon & Tolley, 2005).
The MDGs have been fine-tuned since their inception in an attempt to make
them more achievable nonetheless it is unlikely that the Pacific Region will
achieve the Goals by the deadline (Australian Agency for International
Development, 2009). The failure to achieve the MDGs is related to the
issues that have been identified earlier. These include the geographical
isolation of many communities that require aid, a lack of staff with
appropriate professional skills, high staff turnover, falling service levels,
declining revenues, under-planned expansion, high population rates, and
inadequate budget and regulatory institutions and processes. However, in
this research I argue that international development has failed to achieve the
MDGs partly because the relationship that international development has
with leadership development in the Pacific context is weak. By this I mean
80
that there is insufficient support for local leaders to work towards the MDGs.
This is not to say that there are other factors that have influenced the failure
to attain development goals. What I mean is that there is an underlying
cause as to why these issues influence programme failure and that reason is
that support to local leaders is less than ideal. This argument shall be
supported and elaborated later in this thesis when I present my study
findings.
Current development methods and practices are critiqued by post-
development theorists who argue that existing development strategy is to
replace the traditional knowledge of the indigenous people with Western-
based knowledge systems. It is thought that this will help accelerate the
process of modernisation. Post-development theory embraces the
resistance that indigenous people feel towards this structure and it gives
value to the knowledge, customs and practices of the local people and
supports the use of local knowledge in development programmes. Post-
development theory explains that there is a need for an alternative discourse
from the perspective of the indigenous peoples and highlights that alternative
strategies can be useful.
To provide some insight into the relationship between international
development and leadership development, the leadership literature will be
reviewed in the sections below. It will examine leadership in schools,
leadership development from an Action Logic perspective, the contemporary
leadership arguments, the different ways that leadership manifests itself, and
a range of leadership typologies relevant to this study.
Leadership in schools
School leaders that support the ongoing capacity building of the professional
learning community often enable a continuous positive improvement towards
school improvement. This in turn will raise the quality of the schools
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educational outcomes (Lingam 2012). By supporting sustainable leadership
practices, school leaders are able to; create and preserve sustainable learning
outcomes, secure long-term success for the school, support the leadership of
other leaders, address issues of social justice, develop human resources,
develop environmental diversity and capacity, and actively engage with the
local context (Lingam, 2012).
Negotiating the complexities of the post-modern society from a school frame
can be especially challenging for educational leaders. However “the reason
that strong leadership by itself doesn’t work is that educational reform in
post-modern society is inherently complex” (Fullan 1993 cited in Fullan 1995,
p20). Although leadership has always been seen as an agent of change, the
leadership typology that drives change and innovation is reflective of the
context at the time. As such, the relationship that leadership has with the
schooling system is dynamic and responsive of a social climate that is not
static (Fullan, 1995).
In this thesis, educational leadership refers to the practice of leadership
within the school or some other learning institution. However, I take on
board Spillane, Halverson and Diamond’s comment (2001) that, “to study
school leadership practice we must attend to leadership practice rather than
chiefly or exclusively to school structures, programmes, and designs”
(Spillane, Halverson & Diamond, 2001, p. 23). Partly this is because the
school defines the context that leadership operates in. But also that studying
school leaders is likely to present how school leadership works (Spillane,
Halverson & Diamond, 2001). Even though we may understand what a
leader does, without a rich comprehension of why they do it, our
understanding of the leadership practice is limited (Spillane, Halverson &
Diamond, 2001).
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In line with this view, Leithwood, Harris and Hopkins (2008) explain that there
are seven main claims about school leadership in the literature. These are
firstly that school leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an
influence on pupil learning. Secondly, that almost all successful leaders draw
on the same repertoire of basic leadership practices. Thirdly, that the ways
in which leaders apply these basic leadership practices– not the practices
themselves– demonstrate responsiveness to, rather than dictation by, the
contexts in which they work. Fourthly, that school leaders improve teaching
and learning indirectly and most powerfully through their influence on staff
motivation, commitment and working conditions. Fifthly, that school
leadership has a greater influence on schools and students when it is widely
distributed. Sixthly, that some patterns of distribution are more effective than
others, and lastly, that a small handful of personal traits explains a high
proportion of the variation in leadership effectiveness (Leithwood, et al.,
2008). These ideas are discussed in more detail below.
Claim 1: School leadership is second only to classroom teaching
as an influence on pupil learning. Understanding good leadership is
crucial to improving our knowledge of leadership within the school setting. In
line with this, Leithwood, et al., (2008) believe that school leadership impacts
on student learning and achievement, often reporting large leadership
effects. However these often lack external validity or generalisability
(Leithwood, et al., 2008). When quantitative studies are conducted,
Leithwood, et al., (2008) found that the effect of school leadership on student
outcomes is small but still educationally significant. Furthermore when
schools were compared with each other, there was a difference of 12-20
percent, of which only five to seven percent could be attributed to leadership
with the remainder representing other factors (Leithwood, et al., 2008).
Leithwood, et al., (2008) examined the effects of specific leadership practices
and found a 10 percent increase in student test scores that can be attributed
to an average Head teacher who develops his or her leadership practices.
However there were twenty-one different leadership responsibilities and the
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correlation showed that the Head teacher needed to demonstrate an
improvement in all 21 areas (Leithwood, et al., 2008).
Lastly, one of the most common sources of failure for a school is when Head
teachers leave schools and there are no succession plans in place. This is
can have a significant impact on student achievement (Leithwood, et al.,
2008). The ongoing success of aid programmes in schools therefore
requires that head teachers are retained and if that is not possible, then
effective succession plans are in place.
Claim 2: Almost all successful leaders draw on the same
repertoire of basic leadership practices. An underlying assumption of this
claim is that leadership can contribute towards improving the performance of
teachers and administrators involved with education aid projects. Successful
school leadership will usually address these issues if only because student
outcomes are closely related to teacher performance (Leithwood, et al.,
2008).
With this in mind, Leithwood, et al., (2008) argue that leaders often adopt
very similar leadership practices regardless of context. This argument
undermines the idea that there are specific leadership practices that are
applicable to the education sector. Although the term ‘educational
leadership’ is used throughout the literature concerning schools, in reality it
describes typical leadership practices within schooling contexts.
Claim 3: The ways in which leaders apply basic leadership
practices, rather than the practices themselves, demonstrate
responsiveness to, rather than dictation by, the contexts in which they
work. Based on their review of the literature, Leithwood et al., (2008)
believe that many educational leaders are highly sensitive to their context but
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they suggest that, “this reflects a superficial view of what successful leaders
do” (p. 31). This is largely due to the fact that even though they are sensitive
to context they do not use, “qualitatively different practices in every different
context” (Leithwood, et al., 2008, p. 31). Instead, successful educational
leaders operate a series of contextually appropriate and sensitive
combinations of leadership practices including building vision and setting
organisational directions, understanding and developing people and
managing teaching and learning programmes (Leithwood, et al., 2008).
Claim 4: School leaders improve teaching and learning indirectly
and most powerfully through their influence on staff motivation,
commitment and working conditions. Leithwood, et al., (2008), explain
that there is little evidence to support the idea that educational leaders
directly and by themselves are responsible for building staff capacity in
curriculum content knowledge areas. However educational leaders can
make positive and strong contributions when influencing the motivation
commitments and beliefs of staff especially with regard to supporting their
working conditions. This in turn has a significant influence on teachers’
classroom practice (Leithwood, et al., 2008).
Claim 5: School leadership has a greater influence on schools
and students when it is widely distributed. According to Leithwood, et al.,
(2008), there is a significant relationship between leadership capacity,
motivation and working conditions but leadership is most strongly correlated
with working conditions while motivation has the weakest influence on
leadership style. This means that teachers tend to display strong leadership
practices when they are happy with their working conditions. Motivation and
commitment are considered to have an impact on creating positive
relationships but these factors were seen as being less strong than as the
relationship between working conditions and leadership.
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Claim 6: Some patterns of distribution are more effective than
others. The leadership literature shows that there is a relationship between
educational leaders who enact particular styles of leadership in ways that
increase levels of student achievement (Leithwood, et al., 2008). As
Leithwood, et al., (2008) argue that, “[t]his claim grows directly from evidence
about the superiority in most but not all contexts, of distributed rather than
focused (single person) leadership” (Leithwood, et al., 2008, p. 35).
This happens in several ways. For example, strong leadership has a positive
impact on student achievement. Correspondingly, leaders who lack influence
with their teaching colleagues have a negative effect on student
achievement. In this regard, the leadership practices of Head teachers can
be seen to have a bearing on schools but their influence can be either
positive or negative.
Claim 7: A small handful of personal traits explains a high
proportion of the variation in leadership effectiveness. There is a wide
body of literature that focuses on successful leaders, however, the corpus
usually refers to leaders in the corporate and business sector. Interestingly,
some school leaders in formerly low-performing schools have begun to
replicate the leadership lessons from the private sector. This shows that
when challenged many school leaders are ready to learn from others who
work in different contexts (Leithwood, et al., 2008). Having noted this,
however, socio-economic factors are important here as well. Schools in low
socio-economic communities face very different kinds of challenges to high-
performing schools in wealthy communities. Educational leaders sometimes
ignore these contextual considerations and attempt to apply lessons learnt
from successful leadership examples across the board and this is not always
effective (Leithwood, et al., 2008).
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Leadership development from an Action Logic perspective
The way that leaders respond when their authority is being challenged also
plays a role in differentiating leaders from each other (Rooke & Torbet,
2005). Rooke and Torbet (2005) describe this as “Action Logic”. This thesis
is particularly interested in the kinds of leadership styles that could be
encouraged inter-culturally in a range of development environments.
Understanding Action Logic is considered to be important in this thesis for
that reason. Action Logic is a term used in the business world which refers to
the ways that leaders understand their own behaviour and that of others and
explains how they maintain authority and status in the face of threat,
confrontation or provocation.
As Rooke and Torbet (2005) argue, “most developmental psychologists
agree that what differentiates leaders is not so much their philosophy of
leadership, their personality or their style of management” (p. 45). They
contend that as people in leadership roles deal with a range of difficult
situations they develop new understandings and knowledge about how to
cope with challenges. As time goes by, good leaders learn the nuances of
the contexts they work within and respond accordingly even when their
authority is challenged.
Rooke and Torbet (2005) observed leaders who were dealing with very
testing conditions and subsequently identified seven categories of leadership
that are of relevance to this thesis which they named as follows: the
opportunist, the diplomat, the expert, the achiever, the individualist, the
strategist and the alchemist. In particular, Rooke and Torbet found that
strong leaders are able to move from one Action Logic to another although
this can take time to happen and it would be rare for a person to make two
transformations within a four year period. It is often the case that external
events trigger a transformation from one Action Logic to another but at other
times internal threats can create the conditions for leaders to shift their own
Action Logic practice.
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Another way to move from one Action Logic to another is through
professional development programmes. During the transformation, a leader
may enact aspects of multiple Action Logics. The leadership traits that a
leader displays in these situations often serve as an indication of how far
along the leadership development journey they are. These understandings
can then be used with some certainty to predict the areas in which they need
to further develop as a leader. In this way, the leadership journey can be
seen as a process whereby leadership traits are developed as knowledge
over a period of time. It is worth exploring the different categories of
leadership that Rooke and Torbet established, as follows:
The opportunist. In their research, Rooke and Torbet (2005) found
that five percent of their respondents saw the world and other people in
terms of exploitable opportunities. Opportunists, they argue, tend to be
guided by egocentrism, manipulation and mistrust and have a strong
tendency to focus on personal gain. These kinds of leaders often justify their
behaviour with arguments about the need to take an “eye for an eye”
approach. In this regard they might externalise blame and reject negative
feedback. Rooke and Torbet suggest that few leaders maintain these
characteristics for long because generally speaking their frequent risk-taking,
rule-breaking and self-aggrandisement are the antithesis of the kind of leader
that people wish to follow.
The diplomat. Rooke and Torbet (2005) explain that these kind of
leaders avoid conflict by serving the group while attempting to please higher-
status colleagues. ‘Diplomats’ tend to focus on controlling their own actions
rather than looking at what motivates other people or the impact of
contextual events. They often relate well to group norms and are frequently
accepted by group members and this contributes to their ability to perform
their role well. This approach to leadership can provide others with a sense
of social cohesion that leaves them feeling that their needs are being
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protected. Interestingly, Rooke and Torbet found that although only 12
percent of all their respondents showed ‘diplomat’ characteristics, 80 percent
of diplomats held junior management positions. Their tendency to avoid
conflict makes it less likely for diplomats to hold more senior positions while
their friendliness can make them hesitant about giving challenging feedback.
The expert. Making up 38 percent of the respondents in Rooke and
Torbet’s research (2005), leaders who demonstrate the characteristics of the
‘expert’ often attempt to lead by perfecting their knowledge base in their
professional fields. ‘Experts’ often present their knowledge in an empirical
fashion combining data and logic to obtain buy-in from their peers for their
proposals. Due to their knowledge and skill, the ‘expert’ is generally seen as
contributing well to the organisation. However at times they can be
problematic as they are often convinced that their view of the world is the
right one. This can sometimes manifest itself in the belief that collaborative
work is not beneficial to problem-solving situations especially if they see
others as being less expert than they are.
The achiever. Thirty percent of the respondents were characterised
as being ‘achievers.’ Rooke and Torbet’s study shows that people with these
leadership styles often focus on what they are able to deliver whilst creating
a positive, challenging workplace. But they also focus less on “outside the
box” thinking and this is because their priority is to excel within existing
frameworks and where possible, to improve the status quo. Thus, while they
may well have a complex and integrated understanding of the professional
context, they are also open to feedback and understand that many of life’s
difficulties are a manifestation of interpretation and relatedness; they know
that being creative in conflict resolution requires a gentle touch and the ability
to be sensitive to the needs of others. This allows them to attend to
immediate and long-term projects with clarity and confidence. This often
results in lower staff turnover, a higher degree of delegated responsibility and
larger profit margins.
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The individualist. Making up 10 percent of the research cohort,
‘individualists’ are able to work around different personalities and
relationships in ways that have practical value for the organisation. They are
aware that their actions may at times conflict with those of their managers,
the values of the organisation or the implementation of the organisations
goals. In some cases ‘individualists’ may rationalise that it is all right to
ignore some rules or others that are not in their team because their practical
rigor produces results.
The strategist. ‘Strategists’ recognise that organisational perceptions
and constraints are negotiable and potentially transformable and can be
utilised in ways that supports them to lead teams. They see organisational
and social change is a development process that can be achieved with a
heightened awareness from the leader. They are highly capable in initiating
change and are often focused on interpersonal relationships, organisational
relations and national and international developments. ‘Strategists’ made up
four percent of the respondents in Rooke and Torbet’s research.
The alchemist. Though they comprise only one percent of the
respondents, ‘alchemists’ are described as being able to differentiate
themselves from the strategist in that they are can renew or reinvent
themselves or the organisation in significant ways. They have the capacity
to multi-task and also to work on multiple levels in different organisations
resolving issues in each sector. In addition, ‘alchemists’ tend to maintain
high ethical standards and have the capacity to speak to the hearts and
minds of people in their organisation by finding historically significant
moments and using them as a metaphor to symbolise their message.
The diagram below shows the distribution of leaders across the categories
identified by Rooke and Torbet.
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Figure 3.1: Distribution of leaders across Action Logics
Figure 3.1 was developed by taking the percentage results from Rooke and
Torbets (2005) article and representing them on a graph for easy reference.
It does not appear in Rooke and Torbets article and was created for this
research.
The distribution of leaders based on Action Logic categories suggests that
the majority of leaders are skewed to approximately half way along the
Action Logic transformation pathway. As can be seen in Figure 3.1, the
distribution of leaders follows a bell curve with the majority following the
‘expert’ Action Logic, while the ‘achiever’ follows closely behind. Of note
here is that there are more leaders using ‘expert’ and ‘achiever’ Action Logic
than the other Action Logics combined.
According to Rooke and Torbet, 38 percent of leaders try to perfect the
knowledge they use both in their personal and their professional lives.
However because of this, they often believe that they are always right. The
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
The Opportunist (5%)
The Diplomat (12%)
The Expert (38%)
The Achiever (30%)
The Individualist (10%)
The Strategist (4%)
The Alchemist (1%)
Action Logics
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‘expert’ Action Logic is able to transform into the achiever who focuses on
creating a positive but challenging workplace. The ‘achiever’ Action Logic
explains that the leader is open to feedback and has a clear understanding of
the context.
The ‘alchemist’ is the most developed Action Logic leader and it is not
surprising that it is represented by the smallest group. However the small
percentages of the ‘diplomat’ and the ‘opportunist’ seem to suggest that early
development of leadership skills are taken on board more easily until the
leader attains the ‘expert’ Action Logic. Since the leader passes through the
Action Logic stages sequentially it would seem that leaders pass through the
opportunist and diplomat stages more quickly than ‘achiever’ to ‘individualist’,
‘individualist’ to ‘strategist’ and ‘strategist’ to ‘alchemist’. Furthermore, it may
be the case the professional development increases leadership knowledge
up to the point of ‘achiever’ Action Logic and does little after this. This may
be related to the idea that professional development is work-related, and
there is less need for leaders with skills that are more developed than the
‘achiever’.
Contemporary perspectives on leadership
According to Northouse (2013) there are five key questions that can be
posed about the nature of leadership, as follows:
i. Is leadership something that is created from a series of traits or is it a
process?
ii. Is leadership something that be assigned or does it emerge from the
group?
iii. Is leadership about power?
iv. How can we ensure that leadership is not induced by coercion?
v. How is leadership different from management?
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The practices of leadership differ from context to context and consequently
there can be no universal definition that fully articulates what leadership is.
However, contemporary debates about leadership are explored in the
sections below to highlight the elements of the literature that have influenced
the thinking in this thesis. I will then consider a number of prominent
leadership typologies that are relevant to this research.
Trait verses process leadership. Northouse (2013) contends that
understanding leadership as a trait is quite different from describing it as a
process. The former perspective considers that a specific trait or set of traits
that people are born with that make them more capable within leadership
roles (Bass & Bass, 2009). Northouse (2013) explains that these
characteristics may be based on physical attributes such as height, weight
and ethnicity or personality features such as being an extrovert, narcissist or
controlling, or other characteristics, such as intelligence or literacy. The traits
that a leader embodies are seen in terms of defining characteristics.
If we consider the question from a process perspective, however, we see
that leadership is about the interactions that take place between leaders and
followers, and we can also see that the relationship flows in both directions.
That means that not only are leaders able to influence followers but followers
can also influence leaders. Thus, leadership can be perceived as being
bidirectional and although a leader may hold some particular characteristics
or traits that are consistent with trait leadership it is the interaction between
leaders and followers that creates a shared vision or goal that the group
gravitates towards (Northouse, 2013). Historically, leadership trait
perspectives have dominated the literature but Northouse argues that more
contemporary points of view favour notions of leadership as a process.
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Assigned verses emergent leadership. Leadership scholars also
debate whether leadership is something that can be assigned by others or if
they emerge from within the group (Northouse, 2013). In business and
commercial enterprises, leaders tend to be assigned to management roles
and their followers are members of their teams who help them to achieve
organisational goals. On the other hand, in less formal situations, leaders
are often emerge from within the group. An example of this would be within
the sports teams. In many cases involving sports teams, the leader emerges
from within the group as being a leader.
Conflicts may arise when someone who has been assigned a leadership role
and someone who has emerged from the collective have to work together. In
these cases it is sometimes the emergent leader that the group follows rather
than the person who holds a formal position of authority. This can lead to
tensions when followers see the more organic leader as being more
influential than the ‘official’ leader/manager or when the leader of the
collective has a better fit with the identity of the group (Northouse, 2013).
Leadership and power. Northouse (2013) argues that, “[p]ower is
related to leadership because it is part of the influence process” (p. 9). This
statement stems from the idea that people have power when they have the
ability to influence others. Northouse (2013) explains that there are two
types of power a leader may use within organisations; position power or
personal power.
Position power is related to the position a person holds within an
organisation. Typically the leader holds a position of authority over the
followers and the followers understand that the leader can ask them to do
things because of the legitimacy that the leader’s position gives them.
Personal power involves the leader “being seen by the followers as likeable,
knowledgeable, considerate or competent” (Northouse, 2013, p. 10). When
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leaders behave in a way that is recognised by followers as being important,
leaders are given power or authority to lead by the followers.
Leadership and coercion. Coercion is related to influence in that it
can be used to motivate people to follow a shared goal or direction
(Northouse, 2013). However being able to influence others does not
necessarily mean that leaders exercise some kind of coercive power over
their followers. Within the leadership literature, influence has come to reflect
a relational construct in a positive (from the view of the group) or a form of
interaction that does not involve coercion. The use of coercion would tend to
indicate that the group actions are not occurring freely and openly and
consequently a leader of this type would not be considered to be enacting
fundamental leadership principles (Northouse, 2013).
Leadership and management. ‘Leadership’ and ‘management’ are
terms that share similarities in that they both involve people who work in
groups towards shared goals but they have very different philosophical roots.
Often the leader/manager is given authority based on the position they hold
within the organisation (Northouse, 2013). Whilst the primary functions of
leadership are to develop shared goals and to motivate the group to attain
those goals, management primarily concerns itself with planning, organizing,
staffing and controlling (Northouse, 2013).
Northouse (2013) cites Zaleznik’s (1977) argument that managers are often
reactive and solve problems with limited emotional interaction with the group.
He contrasts this approach with leaders who engage openly with the group
on many levels and seek to shape ideas in ways that allow people to change
the way they think about what is possible. Thus, it can be seen that
Managers are more likely to be reactive to issues as they arise while leaders
tend to be pro-active (Northouse, 2013) and this sets leaders apart from
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managers. It is also the case, however, that depending on the context,
leaders sometimes oscillate between being a manager and a leader.
The ways that leadership manifests itself
Leadership success often depends on the ability of the leader to identify the
underlying causes of the problems they encounter and respond in a way that
is contextually productive and appropriate. In this section, six leadership
styles are discussed that are important for this research. They are as
follows: instructional leadership, educational leadership, school leadership,
transformational leadership, transactional leadership and servant leadership.
Although there are many more kinds of leadership than this, these have been
selected because of their relevance to this research. In this respect, I follow
Skipton, Leonard, Lewis, Freedman and Passmore (2013) who explain that
leadership is a continuous process that must be viewed contextually. I also
agree with their contention that understanding leadership typologies can
provide insights into why people behave as they do when they interact with
others.
Leader development and leadership development
This research differentiates between leader development and leadership
development, the two being different elements of the same contemporary
leadership paradigm. The difference between leader development and
leadership development is that leader development is focused on the
development of an individual’s human capital whilst leadership development
focuses on the social capital development process.
Leadership development focuses on the ability of leaders to use their human
capital (i.e. skills and knowledge that are of value to an employer or a nation)
to develop relationships that enhance their social capital (i.e. the
interconnected relationships of people within a social system that allow it to
operate properly). It provides a theoretical framework for leaders to work
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from that involves, “networked relationships among individuals that enhance
cooperation and resource exchange in creating organisational value” (Day,
2001, p. 585). From this perspective, it can be seen that leader
development and leadership development are fundamentally different.
Leader development. Leader development often involves
behavioural interventions aimed at creating changes in the perceptions,
motivation and competencies that inform patterns of behaviour (Harms,
Spain & Hannah, 2011). In this respect, leader development focuses on the
development of human capital as it is embodied by individuals and includes a
process of becoming aware of one’s personal identity (Hall, 2005).
Popper & Mayseless (2007) explain that a leader needs to have the
psychological motivation for leadership which they suggest is developed
during childhood. Murphy and Johnson (2011) agree arguing that
development of this nature is likely to occur more readily when a person’s
“behaviour, personality and skills are more malleable at a younger age than
in adulthood” (p. 460). In this regard, there is a perception that the
motivation to be a leader underpins the characteristics that shape identity.
However, people are not necessarily conscious of these characteristics from
the outset. Part of the purpose of leader development programmes are to
expose and develop the characteristics that people have in order for them to
become better leaders. While it is believed that a person’s personality
influences that kind of leadership that an individual practices, there is little
literature about how personality influences leader effectiveness (Popper &
Mayseless 2007, Harms, Spain & Hannah, 2011). However, the literature
that does exist in this domain agrees that a leader’s performance in the
short-term does not always predict long-term outcomes (Harms, Spain &
Hannah, 2011).
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Leadership development. Leadership can be seen as an emergent
phenomenon that is created when the follower constructs their experiences
in terms of leadership concepts (Meindl, 1995) in either a formal or informal
grouping (Crossman & Crossman, 2011). As a function of their position
within the group leaders are responsible for maintaining the leader/follower
relationship.
Leadership is the social process that involves a leader, followers and a
context. Consequently, leadership development involves providing the
leader with the skills to motivate other people towards a known goal in a
given situation. Ibarra, Snook and Guillén Ramo (2008) argue that
leadership skills are often best learned through practice and observation, and
for that reason, the development of leadership skills generally occurs in the
workplace. Although many leadership development programmes are
available in corporate environments, programmes that aim to develop
leadership skills at all levels are generally difficult to design and implement
and it is often easier simply to develop the skills and competencies of
individual leaders (Dalakoura, 2010).
Tichy (cited in Dalakoura, 2010) explains that if a leader is to be successful
they must arrange succession plans and mentor others who shall pick up
leadership roles in the future. This means that successful leadership
development is reliant on the leaders supervisors, managers etc., to be
supportive of the leadership development process within the wider
organisation. This is the empowering aspect of leadership development that
is focused on bringing new people with new ideas and different motivations
into play.
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Leadership capacity
Leadership capacity can be framed within a range of personal,
organisational, national or regional perspectives. Personal leadership
capacity (also known as leader development) allows leaders to inform their
actions by developing experience, skills, traits and knowledge as a leader.
Organisational leadership in a regional or national capacity often refers to the
ability of the group to lead others in a particular project.
Building leadership capacity within an organisation requires continual re-
invention of the organisation itself (and consequently the members of the
organisation) (Day, 2001). Research tools are available to measure
leadership capacity of a person or an organisation, for example, the
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass & Avolio, 2011). It should be
noted here that leadership capacity has traditionally concerned itself with
personal leadership development (Bass, 1991; Bass & Bass, 2009;
Northouse, 2013) or leadership development within organisations (Hopkins &
Jackson, 2003; King & Newman, 2001) rather than increasing the number of
leaders within a given population.
The role of the follower
While a body of literature exists around understandings of leadership, very
little has been written about followership. Meindl (1995) suggests that this is
an important and often overlooked aspect of leadership since leaders cannot
function without followers. In line with this, Bennis (1999) has argued that
regardless of the size or ideology of the group, followers require four things
from their relationship with the leader; mutual trust, a clear understanding of
the direction that the leader is taking them, a sense of hope or optimism, and
naturally, results. The perceptions that followers have of their leaders can
greatly influence the leader’s practice in ways that can be directly translated
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into influence within the group (Gardner et al., 2005). Within organisations,
followers often consider honesty and competence as key attributes for
leaders while cooperation, loyalty and dependability are often seen as traits
that are desirable for followers (Hersey & Blanchard, 2007). Furthermore,
according to Crossman and Crossman (2011), followers can be categorised
into three groups, passive followers, active followers or proactive followers.
An understanding followership is important because it gives leaders a clearer
understanding of group dynamics (Hurwitz & Hurwitz, 2009).
The way that followers engage with leaders and with each other not only
influences leaders’ perceptions but also how outsiders view the
leader/follower relationship. In some organisations and also in some cultural
communities it is customary for the follower to formally acknowledge the
leader, for example, with a salute, by standing when they enter the room or
by some other means that shows respect for the person’s authority (Chaleff,
2011).
Chaleff (2011) further argues that followers who work closely with leaders
have a responsibility to keep the leader authentic and honest but also need
to stand up to leaders if the situation warrants it. This increases the
accountability of the group. Leaders should be aware that when
authoritarian relationships are the norm followers tend to agree with the
status quo rather than address the leader’s actions towards meritocracy and
this ultimately reduces the effectiveness of both followers and leaders
(Chaleff, 2011).
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Pacific leadership
Pacific leadership is a homogenous statement that describes a leadership
style that is commonly practiced across the Pacific region. However,
leadership is practiced differently in nation states across the region.
Differences occur nationally and locally with observant differences between
urban and rural areas. What this means is that Pacific leadership can be
similar and different depending on the way that it is being observed.
Pacific leaders on the ground tend to focus on common aspects of
leadership that exist across the region. In this way Pacific leaders are able
to work together to leverage better leadership experiences. This is
commonly achieved by sharing stories of leadership experiences. Pacific
leaders tend to adapt their leadership practice to be consistent with the
prevailing leadership typology of the nation state they are in at the time.
Despite the changing context that Pacific leaders work in, the underlying
philosophy that guides the leader remains intact. Because the leadership is
enacted in similar ways across the Pacific, Pacific leaders are able to cross
cultural boundaries with some degree of success.
This research contrasts notions of leadership in Fiji against leadership that is
found in Tonga. While observantly there are some similarities in the day to
day leadership practices, historically, socially and culturally there are
fundamental differences. Tonga is a monarchy, as such leadership in Tonga
reflects this form of governance. Leadership in Fiji is significantly different as
there have been a number of coups d'état. Consequently leadership at a
nation state level in Fiji and Tonga differs.
Socially, Fiji has created a relationship with the Indian community that came
to work in various industries. After a number of generations, the Fijian and
Indian communities have formed a social structure that largely sit alongside
each other with some degree of overlap. Tonga has experienced
globalisation differently. Although Tonga has welcomed other nationalities
into its communities, Tongan residents are largely of Tongan descent.
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Furthermore, culturally Tonga and Fiji are different. They have different
languages, and different customs. Despite these differences, values such as
love, respect, generosity, reciprocity and valuing the environment are
features that can be found not only in Fiji and Tonga, but also across the
region.
Leadership typologies
Multiple leadership typologies and styles have been identified in the literature
on leadership practice (Northouse, 2013). Given that cultural, organisational
and professional contexts are central to the kinds of leadership methods that
are enacted, no single leadership typology can be applied in all situations.
Furthermore, leadership practices are frequently adapted to suit the context
in which leadership is practiced. Thus, a leader may use one style
leadership in one context and another style in different context.
The different leadership typologies that exist within the literature include but
are not limited to situational approaches (Graeff, 1997; Northouse, 2013);
trait theory (Bass & Bass, 2009; Douglas, 1979; Kruger & Scheerens, 2012;
Northouse, 2013); skills-based approaches (Northouse, 2013; Peters, Hartke
& Pohlmann, 1985); transformational leadership (Bass, 1991; Lowe, Kroeck
& Sivasubramaniam, 1996; Northouse, 2013); servant leadership
(Northouse, 2013; Spears, 2010; Greenleaf, 2002); instructional leadership
(Leonard, 2010; Horng & Loeb, 2010; Volante, 2012); and, educational or
school leadership (Bush, Bell & Middlewood, 2010; Begley, 2010; Dimmock
& Walker, 2005r; Day, Sammons, Leithwood, Hopkins, Gu, Brown &
Ahtaridou, 2011; Duignan, 2006; Kruger & Scheerens, 2012; Leithwood,
Anderson, Mascall & Struss, 2010). Only those leadership typologies that
are relevant to this study are reviewed here.
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Three of the leadership typologies discussed below can be applied to the
education sector. These are instructional leadership, educational leadership
and school leadership. The other leadership typologies that are explored
below are included because of their direct relevance to the Pacific leadership
contexts. These were styles of leadership that I directly observed in my
fieldwork in Tonga and Fiji. I do not suggest these represent all leadership
styles practiced in these research sites, only that I did not observe them at
that time.
Instructional leadership. Instructional leadership is a leadership
typology that is often found within schools and classrooms. As such, much
of the instructional leadership literature is written from this perspective
though it could, in fact, be applied in any context where learning outcomes
are prioritised. Indeed, instructional leadership is often thought of in terms of
the direct and indirect leadership behaviours that affect pedagogical practice
and student learning. Instructional leadership refers directly to pedagogy
that is aimed at improving student outcomes. However instructional
leadership is often used to describe the actions that a Principal (or delegated
staff member) takes to improve student learning with a specific focus on the
behaviours of teachers as they participate in activities that affect student
growth (Volante, 2012).
Effective instructional leadership is not the sole domain of the Principal,
rather it comes from a distributed leadership model that allows the
instructional vision to be realised and efficiently advanced (Leonard, 2010).
It places value on collaborative work that takes place in an environment of
trust and respect. In particular, instructional leadership concerns itself with
the teaching and learning aspects of educational leadership (Horng & Loeb,
2010).
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Instructional leadership is likely to be used in conjunction with other
leadership styles and approaches depending on the context of the school
and the local community. Enacting instructional leadership in conjunction
with other leadership approaches within schooling contexts is likely to occur
because instructional leadership refers to the teaching strategies that a
teacher uses to enable students engage with the subject matter and this can
shift according to changing needs in the classroom or in the community
surrounding the school.
Educational leadership. Educational leadership differs from
instructional leadership in that instructional leadership takes a micro-level
view of how leadership affects the learning process whilst educational
leadership regards the relationship between leadership and the learning
process from a macro-level perspective. The relationship between
educational leadership and instructional leadership can be best understood if
we think of instructional leadership as a subset of educational leadership. In
this way, it can be seen that educational leadership shares several of the
same characteristics of instructional leadership.
Dimmock and Walker (2005) explain that educational leadership is a socially
grounded process that is subject to the values and traditions of the context
that surrounds it. However culture and its relationship to educational
leadership has received little recognition within the academic literature until
fairly recently (Dimmock & Walker, 2005). This is partly because much of the
literature about educational leadership draws from an American or British
base that has not always taken into account how leadership and followership
styles are constructed in nations outside the West.
As a typology, educational leadership differs from other leadership styles in
two key respects. Firstly, it is specific to the education sector so whilst some
leadership typologies are transferable across sectors, educational leadership
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is not. Secondly, leadership typologies often provide explanations and
descriptions about the ways in which leaders and followers interact but the
literature on educational leadership does not in the main provide these
explanations. It focuses instead on the ways in which teachers engage with
the learning process including the systems, policies and practices that
influence or inform the learning process (Dimmock & Walker, 2005).
Leithwood, Anderson, Mascall and Strauss (2010) suggest that educational
leadership centers on two central tenets. The first is that educational
leadership concerns itself with influence and the second is that the influence
a teacher has on students directly affects their learning. The literature on
educational leadership does, however, do more than simply consider the
relationship between the teacher and the student, for example, it also
includes discussions about how educational leaders can improve the
conditions and policies that schools have in place that affect teacher
effectiveness.
In recent years, the terminology around these notions has changed, for
example, the terms ‘educational administration’ and ‘educational
management’ are more often referred to nowadays as ‘educational
leadership’ (Gunter, 2004 cited in Bush, Bell & Middlewood, 2010). As a
component of the leadership literature, educational leadership can be
distinguished from ‘educational management’ insofar as the term educational
leadership reflects a shift in educational policy over the last five decades.
Partly in response to these changing perspectives, the roles of Head
teachers and Principals have undergone a corresponding shift with respect
to their autonomy, accountability and responsibility (Bell 2007, cited in Bush,
Bell & Middlewood, 2010). When experts in the field talk about educational
leadership they may draw on elements of instructional leadership, school
management and school administration as well as individual leadership
typologies. The term ‘school administration’ usually covers matters such as
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the development and implementation of a school vision, planning and policy
(Kruger & Scheerens, 2012).
A defining characteristic of educational leadership is the leader’s ability to
initiate curriculum and policy reform (Begley, 2010). In addition, the capacity
of educational leaders to inspire others and to provide a vision for the future
is also important (Duignan, 2006). Educational leaders are often faced with
a steep learning curve early in their careers (Day et al., 2011). Although
Principals may come into the role hoping to make changes to the status quo
they often become mired in school administration tasks and consequently
may end up doing little to develop and implement an educational vision
(Kruger & Scheerens, 2012). Teachers sometimes feel that if their Principal
spent more time leading them, student achievement would improve (Kruger
& Scheerens, 2012). Principals, on the other hand, often find that they do
not have the time to reflect on or communicate a shared vision in the face of
busy schedules (Duignan, 2006).
Day et al., (2011) explain why some educational leaders are more successful
than others. School size, school level, subject matter and academic
emphasis, for example, are all factors that have an impact on student
learning outcomes. Research suggests that smaller school sizes may
present particular challenges for school leaders but they are generally more
productive with regard to student learning (Day et al., 2011). Day et al.,
(2011) explain that educational leaders often look for resources in many
different places depending on the subject matter being taught. For example,
to improve literacy, educational leaders may rely on the expertise of teachers
but in subjects like mathematics they are more likely to use external
resources. Also, the degree to which a school emphasises academic
achievement has an impact on student outcomes (Day et al., 2011)
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School leadership. Educational leadership approaches are widely
debated in the Pacific region. The Tongan Ministry of Education, for
example, describes the “key dimensions of school leadership [that] provides
a guide for improving school leadership practices” (Ministry of Education of
Education and Training and the Institute of Education, University of the South
Pacific, 2012). The Ministry of Education considers that the main focus for
educational leaders needs to be to clarify the role, purpose and nature of
leadership in schools; to guide the practices of future leaders; and, to set the
direction for professional development so that a clear understanding of
school leadership can be formulated.
A series of workshops for educational leaders in Tonga was run in 2011 and
the conclusions reached were that although each of these key focal areas
are important in their own right they need be seen as part of a larger and
more cohesive body of work that describes Tongan school leadership as it is
practiced today. In the diagram below, the key dimensions of school
leadership in Tongan schools are laid out. Each key dimension has a number
of sub-dimensions attached to it. The sub-dimensions refer to the concepts
and activities that have been identified as contributing to the achievement of
key dimensions. In Tonga, school leadership is thought about in terms of
ethical leadership, visionary leadership, organisational leadership,
instructional leadership and community connectedness. The ideas outlined
in the diagram below are taken from the Tongan Ministry of Education
Improving Tongan School Leadership guide (Ministry of Education of
Education and Training and the Institute of Education, University of the South
Pacific, 2010).
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5 key
Dimensions
Ethical
leadership
Visionary
Leadership
Organisational
Leadership
Instructional
Leadership
Community
Connectedness
Tongan
School
Leadership
Professional
ethics
Managing
change
Policy, regulation,
laws
Student
learning and
development
Parents (PTA)
Decision
making
processes
Setting
directions
Financing
education
School Plan Cultural competency
Problem
Solving
Vision
development
Organisational
planning
School Finance Church, education
committees,
advisory boards, ex-
students and other
stakeholders
Relationship
building
Organisational
communication
and information
Professional
development
for Teachers
Cultural
competency
Table 3.1: Table of school leadership. (Ministry of Education of Education
and Training and the Institute of Education, University of the South Pacific,
2012)
In the section below, I discuss the perspectives of leadership that have
informed the Tongan Ministry of Education policy statement.
Ethical Leadership (Fakafeangai tonunga a e taki). Fakafeangai
tonunga a e taki is a key concept in educational leadership in the Tongan
context. It refers to ethical leadership which in turn, “refers to the values,
principles and moral behaviours that guide leadership practices” (Ministry of
Education of Education and Training and the Institute of Education,
University of the South Pacific, 2012, p. 11). The guide to Improving Tongan
School Leadership (Ministry of Education of Education and Training and the
Institute of Education, University of the South Pacific, 2012) explains that
Tongan community members form their opinions about school leaders based
on their behaviour. Leaders are judged approvingly when they focus on four
core values, namely, faka’apa’apa (respect), mamahi’i me’a (loyalty),
feveitokai’aki (reciprocity), and lototo (humility) and Tongan school Principals
are expected to actively demonstrate their commitment to these four values.
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They can do this by enacting the sub-dimensions, noted in the diagram
above, of observing professional ethics, establishing transparent decision-
making processes, and being effective problem-solvers and relationship-
builders (Ministry of Education of Education and Training and the Institute of
Education, University of the South Pacific, 2012).
Visionary Leadership (Sio Atu). In the Tongan context, a leader
who is able to design and implement future directions for the organisation is
considered to be a visionary. Their vision will have a clear strategic focus
that is aspirational, forward-looking and responsive to the organisation.
Direction-setting is also seen as essential to becoming a visionary leader. In
this educational context, visionary leadership is demonstrated by managing
change effectively, setting directions using collaborative and participatory
approaches (Ministry of Education of Education and Training and the
Institute of Education, University of the South Pacific, 2012).
Organisational Leadership (Taki iha Potungaue). Taki iha
Potungaue is considered to be another important element of Tongan
educational leadership. It centers on an understanding of organisational
leadership in schools that includes demonstrating sound knowledge of
school policies, government regulations and laws, educational finances,
organisational planning, and organisational communication and information
dissemination. It is considered that strong organisational leadership is
enacted when leaders make meaningful connections with other educational
groups and key people at both national and regional levels. These
connections are facilitated when Principals participate in policy development
at the same time as demonstrating that they are part of vibrant, healthy
organisations that are responsive to the needs of the stakeholders (Ministry
of Education of Education and Training and the Institute of Education,
University of the South Pacific, 2012).
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Instructional leadership (Papa Fakahinohino). In the Tongan
school system, Papa Fakahinohino or instructional leadership refers to, “the
school Principal and/or the school leadership team playing more than an
administrative role as leaders of an organisation ” (Ministry of Education of
Education and Training and the Institute of Education, University of the South
Pacific, 2012, p. 20). In line with this, instructional leaders are expected to
ensure that effective learning takes place in a context of high-quality
teaching. Instructional leadership is displayed when meaningful and
responsive school lesson plans are developed that meet the needs of
students. This form of leadership also includes the expectation that school
leaders will manage finances and direct resources to where they are most
needed at the same time as providing for the professional development of
staff. In this way, instructional leaders are required to foster and maintain a
school culture that promotes a learning environment that is inclusive of
students, teachers and the surrounding community (Ministry of Education of
Education and Training and the Institute of Education, University of the South
Pacific).
Community Connectedness (Fengaue aki). Another element of
educational leadership in Tonga concerns the concept of Fengaue aki or
community connectedness. In this regard, school leaders are expected to
ensure that their schools are closely connected to local communities and that
the broad values of Tongan society are represented and reflected in the
school. The thinking here is that when these connections are maintained
with parents, students, the Church and other stakeholders, the school is
seen as being meaningful, relevant and worthwhile . Community
connectedness is thus, “best demonstrated through the cultural competency
of the school leader in being skilled, adaptive and responsive to the
expectations of the community” (Ministry of Education of Education and
Training and the Institute of Education, University of the South Pacific, 2012,
p. 23). In line with this, being able to speak with confidence at cultural
gatherings and being well versed with the Tongan culture and Christian faith
is also seen as being important qualities of a strong leader (Ministry of
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Education of Education and Training and the Institute of Education,
University of the South Pacific, 2012).
Hereditary leadership (chieftainship)
Hereditary leadership (chieftainship) is enacted when a leadership position is
passed on to a person because of their birth right. In New Caledonia and
Fiji, this idea has been translated into political life and representation in an
attempt to maintain traditional governance systems in a modern and highly
globalised world. In many parts of the Pacific, however, contemporary
hereditary leadership is socially advantageous but does not afford political
benefits (Douglas, 1979). Hereditary leadership sits aside from trait theory in
that it is the leader’s lineage rather than their ability to lead that allows the
person to assume a leadership role.
Hereditary leadership is enacted in different ways across the Pacific region.
An example of this would be in Tonga where the Royal family has held the
seat of leadership for many generations. In other Pacific nations such as Fiji,
for example, hereditary leaders (Chiefs) have been replaced by other parties.
Although hereditary leaders no longer manage the affairs of the state in Fiji
they retain considerable influence within their villages.
Transformational and transactional leadership relationships
Approximately one third of the leadership articles published in Leadership
Quarterly, a leading journal in the domain, consider leadership
transformational or charismatic leadership styles (Lowe and Gardner, 2001
cited in Northouse, 2013). Indeed, transformational leadership is a central
concern in the academic research on leadership. Leaders who are
exponents of transformational leadership often have a strongly held set of
ideals and values and they consistently place the greater good ahead of their
own self-interest (Kuhnert, 1994 cite in Northouse, 2013). Leaders who
focus on transactional leadership, on the other hand, tend to focus on
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following a set of rules or standards, often offering incentives to followers to
achieve goals (Bass, 1991).
Transformational leadership is a complimentary style to transactional
leadership because,
both styles may be linked to the achievement of goals and objectives. In this view. The transformational leader’s style is complementary to the transactional style and is likely to be ineffective in the total absence of a transactional relationship between leader and subordinate. (Bass, Avolio & Goodheim, 1987, cited in Lowe, Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996, p. 387).
Transformational leadership differs from transactional leadership in that
transactional leaders are happy with achieving the goals that were set in
place at the outset of a project whereas transformational leaders aim to
achieve greater goals than were originally planned.
Transactional leadership refers to the exchange that takes place between
leaders and followers (Northouse, 2013). It occurs when a leader, “initiates
contact with subordinates in an effort to exchange something of value, such
as rewards for performance, mutual support or bilateral disclosure” (Lowe,
Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996, p. 386). From a transactional leadership
perspective, a leader may offer incentives to followers by promising to fulfil
certain needs or requirements such as promises of recognition, increases in
remuneration or advancement of employees within an organisation (Bass,
1991). Because transactional leaders tend to reward followers for their efforts
and promise rewards for future good performance, they sometimes fall into
the trap of micro-managing or seek out deviations from a set of rules or
standards, taking corrective action when required and intervening when
standards are not met (Bass, 1991).
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Transformational leadership, on the other hand, leans towards a focus on
improving performance at the same time as providing followers with
professional development opportunities that allow them to fulfil their potential.
Transformational leaders pay close attention to the charismatic and affective
features of the leadership process engages followers in positive ways. They
do this by assessing and satisfying their follower’s needs and by considering
the emotions, values, ethics standards and long-term goals that exist within
the leader-follower relationship. In doing so, the leader looks for ways of
motivating followers to achieve more than they would otherwise (Northouse,
2013).
Leaders who are described as transformational or charismatic often have a
clear vision about the future of the group or organisation. They are self-
confident, competent, have a desire to influence others, have shared goals
with moral overtones, and have high expectations of followers but display
confidence in their ability to meet those expectations (Northouse, 2013).
Within this charismatic relationship, followers often trust in the leader’s
ideology, share similar beliefs, accept guidance, actively show their esteem
for the leader and actively identify with the leader. They also share the same
goals. This is particularly beneficial at those times when a follower feels
stressed and looks towards the leader for guidance (Northouse, 2013).
Bass (1985) (cited in Northouse, 2013) explains that followers are often
willing to do more than expected because the charismatic leader is able to
raise the followers level of consciousness with regards to the value and
importance of the goals. They can influence followers to put aside their own
self-interests and focus on the needs of the group, team or organisation and
they can also motivate followers to address higher level needs.
Northouse (2013) describes transformational leadership in terms of the four
I’s, namely Idealised influence, Inspirational motivation, Intellectual
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stimulation and Individualised consideration. Idealised influence describes
the leader-follower relationship where the follower wants to emulate the
leader’s behaviour. In this regard, the emotional component of leadership
typifies leaders who are able to provide a vision or sense of mission for
followers by developing a relationship where the follower deeply respects the
leader and places a great deal of trust in them. The leader is able to do this
by having a very high standard of morals and ethical conduct (Northouse,
2013).
Inspirational motivation occurs when a leader is able to communicate a high
level of expectation to the followers and in doing so, inspire them to be part
of a shared vision. The leader does this by using symbols and emotional
appeals to motivate followers to do more for the group than they would
otherwise do. The leader does this to enhance team spirit (Northouse,
2013).
Intellectual stimulation is also an important aspect of this style of leadership.
When followers are intellectually engaged they may feel inspired to develop
innovative and creative ways of tackling organisational issues. While it may
encourage followers to think outside of the box, this form of leadership may
also challenge the follower’s own values and beliefs as well as those of the
leader and organisation (Northouse, 2013).
Transformational leadership tends to not occur in isolation and is often
accompanied by transactional leadership styles (Lowe, Kroeck, &
Sivasubramaniam, 1996). In this way the charismatic effect of
transformational leaders is supported when the follower receives benefits
and rewards from the leader who is behaving in a transactional manner. The
combination of both transactional and transformational leadership
encourages followers to work alongside the leader not only because they
want to but because they benefit from it.
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The tangible advantages of using transactional leadership can be seen when
the leader promises certain benefits or rewards that the follower will receive if
they follow their direction and the follower engages with that approach.
However combining this style with transformational leadership approaches
allows the leader to be perceived by their colleagues and employees as
inspirational and motivational (Bass, 1991). Furthermore leaders using a
transformational leadership typology often have a better relationship with
their supervisors and contribute more to the organisation (Bass, 1991)
Servant leadership
At first glance, the words “Servant” and “leader” seem paradoxical but this is
a view of leadership that fits within both traditional and contemporary
leadership practices. A servant leader influences followers so that shared
goal can be achieved. However, servant leadership proposes that a leader
may serve others and through this service they are able to influence the
followers to achieve the same goal (Northouse, 2013; Spears, 2010).
Sendjaya (2010) views servant leadership as an aspect of character that
comes from the heart rather than skill or behaviour that a leader displays. It
is a servant leaders,
willingness to sacrifice their own needs and wants in order to serve others, instead of serving their own selfish aims by sacrificing other people. As a leadership approach that is other-orientated, rather than leader centered, effectiveness is therefore measured by the holistic development of both the leader and the follower. (Sendjaya, 2010, p. 46).
Blanchard and Hodges (2003) argue that a fundamental difference between
servant leadership and other leadership styles is that self-serving leaders
often guard their position within an organisation or team. A servant leader,
on the other hand, considers that leadership comes from within and is an act
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of service to the team or organisation of which they are part. Van Dierendonk
and Patterson (2010) agree and add that a servant leader is able to influence
their followers through the power of service.
Servant leadership also differs from many earlier leadership typologies in
that it focuses on allowing strong long-term relationships to develop that
focus on personal integrity. These relationships may extend beyond the
leader-follower relationship into other aspects of the followers life. In this
way, servant leaders can serve multiple stakeholder’s including the local
community as well as regional or religious settings (Linden, Wayne, Zhao &
Henderson, 2008). It should be noted here that these characteristics are
extremely important in Pacific communities.
Ideas about servant leadership’s grew from Hermann Hesse’s 1932 novel
called Journey to the East (Greenleaf, 2002). Journey to the East is a
parable of the complex nature of servant leadership written from the
perspective of a member of the group. In this novel, Hesse examines the
nature of servant leadership and explains that a true leader has a natural
inclination to serve others first and through that form of service is able to
motivate the group to work towards a common goal.
From a servant leadership perspective, a leader should automatically feel
that they wish to serve others first, and to lead others second. In this respect,
the servant leader is different from many other perspectives about leadership
because it places service in a central position. Care is taken by the servant
leader to ensure that the followers’ highest priority are being served
(Greenleaf, 2002).
Spears (2010) explains that a servant leader often embodies listening,
empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualisation, foresight,
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stewardship, commitment to the growth of people and building community.
Moreover, Spears (2010) explains that servant leadership is an approach to
life and work that has the potential to create a positive change within an
individual, group organisation and society.
Summary of chapter three
In this chapter, I have explored the literature regarding international
development and leadership. The focus of this thesis lies with aid in the
education sector and with the imposition of Western economic, philosophical,
political and cultural frameworks on communities in recipient nations. I have
argued that part of the answer lies with supporting the development of Pacific
leaders to deal with the educational issues and challenges that confront
Pacific peoples in the region. I have also discussed the leadership literature
as a means of illuminating the complexities involved in defining leadership as
well as developing new leaders to take up positions of authority in
organisations and development programmes.
Debates about the nature of leadership have long been the subject of
discussion in and around the Pacific and in this chapter I have signalled how
some of these ideas have played out in Tonga, for example. I consider that
these discussions are very important because if leadership practice is a
highly contextualised process, as I have argued in this chapter, then the
cultural, and social values that inform understandings about leadership in
recipient nations need to be at the cornerstone of every discussion about
international development and aid.
These ideas have informed the way I have conceptualised this project and in
the next chapter I explain how I set up the methodology of this study that
ultimately led me to do my field work in the nations of Fiji and Tonga where
debates about international aid in the education sector are highly topical and
often very controversial.
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CHAPTER FOUR
METHODOLOGY
This chapter outlines the research methodology used in this study. The
research methods are described and the qualitative nature of the research
design and data analysis techniques are explained. I also locate this study
within a philosophical context. The chapter concludes with a discussion
about the ethical considerations for this research.
The relationship between aid programmes and leadership development
As noted previously, the aim of international development programmes is to
reduce poverty (United Nations, 2000) and education is seen as one of the
most important ways of contributing to this goal (Tarabini, 2010). This study
examines the relationship between international development programmes
and leadership development in recipient nations. This relationship can be
seen in action in the way that community leaders, teachers, international
country directors and state officials talk about the following issues:
The quality of leadership training available to education professionals.
The infrastructure and resources that support the professional
development of leaders.
Professional development opportunities for teachers and principals.
The kinds of leadership styles favoured in international development
programmes and the kinds of leadership styles enacted in Pacific
communities.
The degree of input that Pacific programme experts have in the way
that aid is designed, developed and delivered in their communities.
A curiosity about the nature of the relationships between the different social
‘actors’ in the development environment of the Pacific region has guided the
way I designed this project. It also shaped the kinds of research questions
that were posed.
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Research questions
As noted previously, this research is guided by three major research
questions:
1. What are recipient’s perceptions about Pacific leadership and leadership
development programmes in the Pacific context?
2. What are recipient’s perceptions of international development in the
Pacific context?
3. In what ways are international development programmes enhancing
educational leadership development?
These questions are addressed in the findings and discussion chapters later
in this thesis but they also helped me to decide to take a qualitative approach
to my methodology.
The qualitative research paradigm
A research paradigm is a broad view of the patterns that guide a research
project and can be explained as,
a set of assumptions and perceptual orientations shared by members of a research community. [They] determine how members of research communities view both the phenomena their articular community studies and the research methods that should be employed to study those phenomena.” (Given, 2008, p. 591).
This research is guided by a qualitative paradigm and the way the study was
subsequently designed and the methodological choices that were made and
carried out in the field are discussed in this chapter. In particular, qualitative
methodologies were used to focus on the way educational leaders connect
and relate to their context in international development programmes in the
Pacific.
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Model for research: Case study research
Yin (2003) explains that a case study is a research strategy that is especially
useful when “how” or “why” questions are being posed. When deciding
which model should be used, Yin (2003) maintains that three conditions
should be used to determine the appropriate research model. Firstly the type
of research question that is being posed, secondly the extent of control that
the investigator has over the events and thirdly the degree of focus on
contemporary issues rather than historical events.
Strategy Form of
Research
Question
Requires
control of
Behavioural
Events
Focuses on
Contemporary
Events
Experiment How, why? Yes Yes
Survey Who, what,
where, how
many, how
much?
No No
Archival
analysis
Who, what,
where, how
many, how
much?
No Yes/No
History How, why? No No
Case Study How, why? No Yes
Table. 4.1: Relevant situations for different research strategies (Source:
Cosmos Corporation, cited in Yin, 2003, p. 5)
The first condition considers the who, what, where, why and how of the
research questions. Research questions that consider the “what” tend to be
exploratory or experimental, research questions that look at the “who” or
“where” often use survey strategies or analyses historic documents. On the
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other hand, research questions that investigate the “how” or “why” of an
issue or a phenomenon are explanatory and are often best served by case
study approaches (Yin, 2003). The second condition is the extent of control
the researcher has over behavioural events. Experiments are sometimes
used when the researcher is able to influence or control some of the events
in question. The third condition is the degree of focus on contemporary
issues as opposed to historical events. These conditions are elaborated in
Table 4.1 above.
Yin (2003) suggests that case study approaches provide a useful framework
for investigating contemporary events and data often include the
researcher’s observations as well as interviews with the people who are
involved in the event (Yin, 2003). In this respect, a case study can be
viewed as “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary
phenomenon in depth and within its real life context, especially when the
boundaries between the phenomenon and the context are not clearly
evident” (Yin, 2009, p. 18).
Case study inquiry relies on the triangulation of multiple sources of data that
converge to give rise to a common theme or themes (Yin, 2009).
Researchers using case study methodologies can also capture holistic
characteristics of the subject matter that may include group behaviour,
organisational processes and practices, neighbourhood change,
performance of schools, maturation of industries and international relations
(Yin, 2009).
Moreover, different kinds of case studies can be undertaken. Yin (2003)
explains that a case study may be explanatory, exploratory or descriptive
and that this is largely dependent on the construction of the research
questions. Furthermore, case study research may involve a single case
study or multiple case studies. The advantages of conducting multiple case
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studies is that individual cases can be compared for similarities and
differences, reproducibility can be observed and generalisations are more
likely to be made with more than one case (Creswell, 2012; Johnson et al.,
2008; Yin, 2009). This research, however, takes the form of a single case
study that is explanatory in nature. Though there has been some criticism
surrounding the difference between single case and multiple case studies, in
real terms it appears that they are two variants of case study design (Yin,
2009). I chose to conduct a single case study as a way of gaining an
understanding about how international development contributes to and
enhances leader and leadership development and capacity. Participants in
two Pacific nations were involved in this research but these data were
analysed as a single case study (Creswell, 2012; Johnson et al., 2008; Yin,
2009).
According to Yin (2009), the single case study approach can be used to
ascertain if a proposition is correct or whether there is an alternative set of
explanations that may be more relevant to the context. With this in mind, this
research has been designed as a single case study because it investigates a
contemporary phenomenon that I have no control over and the research
questions consider the “how” and “why” of the phenomenon.
There are five important components of a case study research design,
namely, the research questions, its propositions, the units of analysis, the
logic linking the data to the propositions and the criteria for interpreting the
findings (Yin, 2009). The research questions form the basis of the case
study, not only guiding the direction, but also placing boundaries around the
research topic. The proposition further refocuses the research questions
providing the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of a phenomenon. The unit of analysis refers
to what is being investigated by the research. Choosing an appropriate unit
of analysis is therefore very important if the research questions are going to
be adequately addressed (Yin, 2009).
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A single case study focuses on the study as a single unit or context. This
research involves a single case study that includes data collected in Fiji and
Tonga. The rationale for interviewing participants in two nations is that
international development programmes in the Pacific generally operate in a
recipient country while receiving strategic direction from Fiji. Consequently,
to obtain a contextually accurate view of the relationship between
international developments in the Pacific, data from both nations needed to
be incorporated into a single case study. Moreover, a case study approach
is appropriate in this research because it allowed me to capture the
perspectives and lived experiences of one group of participants that I was
then able to compare and contrast with those of participants in other groups.
Inquiry paradigm: Qualitative research
Generally speaking, qualitative research is concerned with interpreting the
meaning of data and the spoken word rather than analysing numerical data
using statistical methodologies. This approach allows the researcher to
capture multiple perspectives of an event from the perspective of the
participants. This study investigates the ways in which international
development influences leadership and leader development in the Pacific
context. Central to this research then, are the perspectives of community
leaders, teachers, principals, Ministry officials and international development
representatives. These data provide the reader with unique insights into the
way that Pacific people experience international development and
educational leadership in their own communities.
Qualitative researchers aim to study a topic without relying on preconceived
ideas. In many cases they develop a hypothesis and a theoretical framework
to support or test the observations they have made (Denzin & Lincoln, 2008).
This is useful for making sense of phenomena in its natural setting and
allows researchers to focus on the meanings that people bring with them into
the context. In this respect, qualitative methodologies provide researchers
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with the means to explore in depth the underlying significance that
participants attribute to phenomena.
Research conducted in this manner also considers that cultural and social
contexts guide the actions of the participants (Creswell, 2012; Denzin &
Lincoln, 2008; Johnson et al., 2008). By examining how the participants
constructed understandings of their social realities, this research emphasises
how they interpreted and acted on their experiences in the educational aid
environment. To that end, the study considers the ontological, axiological
and epistemological understandings that the participants brought to bear on
the development context. Before proceeding further, it is worth clarifying
what these terms mean, as follows: ontology is the philosophical study of
reality, existence or the nature of being. It allows an individual to question
why something exists in the way it does and what can exist, placing value on
the perception of the individual (Chilisa & Preece, 2005).
The way a researcher understands the nature of reality (or the ontological
stance that she or he takes), enables a study to be placed alongside other
similar pieces of research and this is what I have attempted to do in this
thesis. In addition, the nature of knowledge (or epistemology) considers how
knowledge is constructed. On the other hand, axiology considers the values
that were at play in the site communities. When researchers take an
axiological position they are interpreting how values and ethics aid in the
construction of knowledge (Chilisa & Preece, 2005). In this respect, this
research examines the values that shaped the participants’ engagement with
the international development programmes in their communities and this is a
key focal point of this study.
In this thesis, I take a relativist ontological approach in that I argue that there
are multiple ways of understanding the dynamic and fluid nature of social
reality. This kind of approach often focuses on the complexity of participants’
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engagement with the realities that are under examination. From an
epistemological perspective, this research explores how knowledge is
disseminated vertically and horizontally within the international development
frame. It focuses on what constitutes knowledge within these contexts and
the ways that this knowledge is communicated to others (Chilisa & Preece,
2005).
Researching a topic in its natural context can incorporate the causes,
processes, outcomes and meanings of an event or action from the point of
view of the participants. In this study, participants were asked open-ended
questions during semi-structured interviews and their responses were later
collated, coded and analysed thematically (Creswell, 2012; Johnson et al.,
2008).
In this research, as I shall discuss further a little later in this chapter, I have
taken a radical humanist position which seeks to understand a complex
world of shared understandings from the point of view of those who are
within the context. In line with this thinking, I recognise the importance of the
culture and history of the group and I argue that this can offer a valuable
means of understanding how and why knowledge has been created. This
research therefore draws on the participant’s language, culture and history to
make sense of the context (Guba and Lincoln, 1994).
According to Guba and Lincoln (1994), inquiry paradigms describe what the
inquiry is about as well as what falls within and outside of the limits of
legitimate inquiry. It does this by asking three questions, the ontological
question, the epistemological question and the methodological question.
The ontological question asks what the form and nature of reality is, and
consequently what is there that can be known? The epistemological
question asks about the relationship between what can be known and the
knower, while the methodological question asks how the knower can find out
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about what they think is known. I have engaged with all of these
considerations in designing and conducting this project.
Units of analysis
Yin (2003) describes the unit of analysis as being the case itself. In this case
study, the primary unit of analysis is the relationship that international
development has with educational leadership. It is important for the
researcher to clearly identify the unit of analysis because it relates to and is
in some ways defined by the research questions. The unit of analysis
therefore guides how the research questions are framed and gives the
researcher some insight into selecting an appropriate research design and
data collection strategy (Yin, 2003).
Research paradigms
Researchers need to be aware of the perspectives and values that they bring
with them into their research and understand how this affects the analysis of
data (Yin, 2003). Burrell and Morgan (1979) identify four paradigms that
explain how a researcher interacts with key ideas that underpin social
science research and have created a lens through which social scientists can
locate themselves in terms of their research (Figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1: Burrell and Morgan’s (1979, p. 22) paradigms for the Analysis of
Social Sciences
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As can be seen in Figure 4.1 above, the first dimension places the
researcher within the matrix according to their subjectivity/objectivity. The
second dimension places the researcher within the matrix according to the
way they view issues of social change (i.e. radical social change vs. social
regulation). The first and second dimensions are placed within the same
matrix with the two dimensions perpendicular to each other. Using a 2 x 2
grid, the subjective/objective dimension and the social regulation/radical
change dimension can be used to frame the paradigms as they each share a
group of fundamental assumptions about reality. The paradigms are also
largely mutually exclusive of each other, and consequently, a social scientist
can locate his or her research in relation to a particular paradigmatic
approach.
Each of the paradigms are founded on a set of understandings, perspectives
and underlying assumptions about social theory (i.e. the dimension of social
regulation vs. radical change) and epistemic position (i.e. the subjective vs.
objective dimension) that underpin different theories, concepts and tools of
analysis in the social sciences. As such, each dimension frames social
reality from a worldview that is based on a particular set of beliefs.
Understanding how the paradigms relate to each other allows researchers to
identify the boundaries of their own research and consequently identify what
their research is able to achieve or not achieve. In addition, these paradigms
can help researchers to locate their theoretical frameworks within the wider
context of their disciplinary fields and give them some consistency in terms of
what is ‘generally understood’ or ‘taken for granted’ within a discipline
(Burrell & Morgan, 1979). As will be explained below, my own preferences
align most closely with the radical humanist paradigm. I am more focused on
social change than on social regulation and recognise that important
elements of this study rest on subjective assumptions about the nature of
social reality in the Pacific. I discuss this positioning further in the sections
that follow in relation to the paradigms outlined by Burrell and Morgan
(1979).
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The radical humanist paradigm (subjective-radical change).
Proponents of the radical humanist paradigm assert that the nature of reality
is subjective and fluid because the world around us is constantly changing.
Researchers who place themselves within the radical humanist paradigm are
very often concerned with finding ways of removing social constraints that
limit a person’s potential and in this respect they usually have a strong
commitment to transformative social change. (Burrell & Morgan, 1979).
Within this paradigm, researchers often adopt methods that include
observation and interpretation as a way of gathering data that illuminate
aspects of human behaviour. Moreover, radical humanists consider that the
way that social structures are configured play an important role in developing
and maintaining the power relationships that affect every level of society. By
positioning oneself within the radical humanist paradigm, a researcher
therefore has a framework for critiquing the status quo. This facilitates an
examination of the ways that social emancipation, liberation or
transformation can take place. (Burrell & Morgan, 1979).
The radical structuralist paradigm (objective-radical change).
Within the radical structuralist paradigm, there is an assumption that radical
social change can occur as a result of the structural conflicts that emerge out
of political or economic crises. From this perspective, reality is seen as
being in a state of flux but because these changes are observable they are
usually also measurable. As such, the nature of reality is considered to be
both observable and quantifiable. This paradigm therefore allows
researchers to maintain an objective position whilst also being committed to
change and emancipation (Burrell & Morgan, 1979).
Within this framework, it is considered that knowledge emerges from the flow
of social relations. In particular, there is a recognition that the social world is
stratified and consequently the knowledge that comes from each sector of
society is viewed as being both context and class specific. (Burrell &
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Morgan, 1979). By these means, the radical structural paradigm emphasises
the creative potential of structural conflict. Since knowledge is produced as a
result of the interactions and conflicts within and between social groups, it is
not possible to verify or compare different sets of knowledge about the social
world, however, powerful elites are positioned in such a way that they are
can create “correct” or “appropriate” knowledge of the social reality and
disseminate it to others (Burrell & Morgan, 1979).
Several aspects of the radical structuralist paradigm have guided my thinking
in this research. For example, I agree that particular kinds of knowledge are
produced within social and cultural contexts and that these understandings
have an influence on how people understand the world. I further argue in
this thesis that within-group differences are also significant and that these
give rise to multiple realities depending on the understandings of the people
within the group.
I further argue that reality is both observable and describable, however, I
disagree that it is always appropriate to attempt to quantify phenomena using
generic tools of measurement. To do so, in my opinion, is to make the
assertion that all perceptions of reality can be measured with the same
measuring instruments. For this point of view to be valid there would need to
be general agreement that there is a ‘correct’ way to perceive reality and that
all other perceptions must be contrasted against it. I fundamentally disagree
with this proposition and suggest that different perceptions of reality are
describable and that these descriptions may be similar or different depending
on the demographic of people who perceive and articulate reality. In this
thesis, I have extended these assumptions to recognise and respect that the
participants who were involved in this study operate on the basis of
knowledge that is drawn from their own communities, cultural worldviews and
histories.
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The functionalist paradigm (objective-social regulation). Rooted
in the traditions of positivism, the functionalist paradigm assumes that reality
is concrete and can be understood by testing out hypotheses. Because there
is an assumption that reality is concrete there is a corresponding emphasis
on the importance of understanding how society is ordered and identifying
patterns of cohesion (Burrell & Morgan, 1979). Functionalists also consider
that people behave rationally within an observable and measurable reality.
This presupposes that society is not only fixed but that it follows an order that
may not be apparent to its members. In this way, functionalists aim to
establish objective and value-free conclusions that explain and predict
specific aspects of the context under investigation.
In this respect, the social world is explained by identifying, studying and
quantifying reality by identifying and explaining fluctuations and irregularities
that can be understood in terms of cause and effect. Further, people are
viewed as participants in a social world that is heavily influenced by
economic forces. The functionalist paradigm is a problem-orientated
approach that allows researchers to understand social issues and generate
knowledge that can be used by members of a community or society. In this
regard, functionalism is a paradigmatic approach that is often used when
‘real world’ problems need practical solutions (Burrell & Morgan, 1979).
Within the functionalist paradigm there is a belief that society is fixed and
ordered and for this reason, I have not adopted this perspective in this thesis.
This is primarily because from a radical humanist perspective I consider that
society is in a state of constant change and that as a result the nature of
reality is fluid and unstable. I argue here that as members of societies or
communities, people learn about the world they live in and act upon it
accordingly. When this happens, they adapt their behaviours to incorporate
the new knowledge and this can bring about social change. This has most
certainly been the case in Fiji and Tonga where social change has, over
time, considerably affected traditional and customary views of the world.
International development programmes have also played a role in these
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changing perceptions and for this reason the functionalist view of a static and
orderly reality is not applied in this thesis.
The interpretive paradigm (subjective-social regulation). The
interpretive paradigm observes reality from an individual’s perspective so
that a better understanding of people’s behaviour within a given context can
be explored. From this perspective, reality is seen subjectively. In terms of
research methods, it is considered that the researcher/observer is unable to
separate herself or himself from the context that is under investigation. The
social world is seen as part of a process that is created by people through
their interactions with each other in a collective social setting. In this way,
society is thought about in terms of inter-related and inter-dependent
relationships that give meaning to the material world. Within this worldview,
multiple realities are considered to exist alongside each other reflecting the
fluid nature of a shared social existence. The cohesion of multiple realities
within a context comes about when shared realities become mutually
regulating in a way that brings order and structure to the collective (Burrell &
Morgan, 1979).
A key research goal here is to establish an understanding of reality from the
perspective of the participant; or, the person who exists within the social
collective, rather than an observer who sits outside the web of relationships
that underpin the realm of mutual understandings. Consequently, within the
interpretive paradigm, a researcher seeks to understand the rationale and
order that frames and supports the phenomenon under investigation as
external manifestations of the group’s social or cultural experiences (Burrell
& Morgan, 1979).
In this regard, the interpretive paradigm places the individual in a social world
whereby their actions and the associated meanings of those actions frame
their worldviews (Usher & Bryant, 1989). This is a view that emphasises the
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ways that people experience and understand the world around them and
research that sits within this paradigm is consequently characterised by an
understanding that knowledge is socially constructed and embedded in the
culture and history of the collective.
The role of radical humanist perspectives in this research
Radical humanists view social contexts as being dynamic and fluid and
dependent on shared understandings of culture, language and history.
Within this framework, research projects need to be designed flexibly in ways
that lead to an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon. Interestingly, it
was during the 1980s that the radical humanist paradigm came to the
forefront of international development educational theory so it has relevance
to this study (Hoslinger & Jacob, 2008). Accordingly, radical humanist
approaches have shaped my interpretation of the way that participants talked
about educational leadership and aid in the Pacific in the course of this
study.
Using a radical humanist approach, Hoslinger & Jacob (2008) argue that
educational theory has evolved cyclically over time rather than as a linear
progression. This gives researchers the opportunity to, “examine an
educational phenomenon from a three-dimensional, spherical standpoint
where any number of qualitative perspectives from different standpoints
along a spherical surface can examine the educational phenomenological
core” (Hoslinger & Jacob, 2008, p. 8).
Qualitative research within the radical humanist paradigm gives support for
the view that there are multiple truths, multiple realities and consequently
multiple perspectives of phenomena. In this respect, radical humanists
generally take a holistic view of the social world and in many respects this is
closely attuned with Pacific worldviews. As shall be shown later in this thesis,
these views are also congruent with the principles and practices of Pacific
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people in the education sector. This research will show that the Pacific world
that is created by Pacific peoples is critical when considering international
development policies and that significant gains can come from investing in
the people who live within Pacific contexts. It further contends that for social
change to occur there must first be a vision and consequently a way of
leading people in a way that is both culturally responsive and culturally
dynamic. As such, in this thesis, it is argued that ideally, reality cannot be
controlled by manipulating causal inevitabilities, rather it should be made by
the people to serve the people.
As a researcher, I find the radical humanist paradigm stance very appealing.
Ontologically, my perception of the world is subjective. Epistemologically, I
consider that knowledge is historically situated and experiential. From a
methodological perspective, I believe that people are able to create, interpret
and modify their social experiences and that in doing so they can seek to
overcome oppressive situations. The radical humanist stance applies to this
research because it explains the lens through which I view the world.
Another person may use a different lens; they may interpret and analyse
data in a different way and come to a different set of conclusions. As such,
the lens that I present here explains that the worldviews that I have
investigated as being based on the subjective experiences of the
participants. I further contend that the social experiences that are examined
in this study can be interpreted and where possible, people can if they
choose, use this research to inform or instigate a change in consciousness
(Burrell and Morgan, 1979).
Research design
This case study uses qualitative data collection techniques including, semi-
structured interviews, interview notes, field notes, document analysis and
observations. Multiple data sources were used so that data could be
triangulated during the analysis phase of the research. Case study research
methodologies have been used to identify, “the shared patterns that develop
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as a group interacts over time” (Creswell, 2015, p. 469) and in this respect, I
have organised data according to the patterns that I observed during my
fieldwork.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted as part of this research. The use
of open-ended questions gave the participants the freedom to express
themselves as they wished while allowing me to collect data about the
context. This also gave them the time and scope to discuss their perceptions
of the aid and development contexts from their own point of view.
As I was developing the methodology for this thesis, I sought to identify
prospective participants who could reasonably be described as change
agents within the educational aid sector in the Pacific region. As I thought
through these issues it became apparent that there were different cultural
lenses that could be used to think about the people who were leaders or
agents of change within this particular context. On one hand, development
consultants and programme directors are clearly key people who can be
described as agents of change within this environment and their views of the
relationship between educational leaders and international development
programmes were of considerable interest to this study. Accordingly, I invited
people who perform these roles to be interviewed for this study but I also
decided to interview recipients of development programmes in the region
because their views do not figure as prominently in the Pacific development
literature. In the end, I identified three main groups of people who are
involved in the provision of international development programmes in the
Pacific who I approached to be interviewed for this study. They were
programme directors, development consultants and recipients of
development.
I made these decisions for a variety of other reasons as well. I chose to
approach programme directors because this study includes an examination
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of the role of international development organisations in providing
development aid to Pacific nations. In this regard, there is a considerable
body of policy that is involved in the development process. Policy directives
give important information about the perspectives of donor organisations and
importantly, end-of-programme reports describe outcomes from the
perspective of the donor organisation. I reasoned that interviewing
programme directors would therefore provide me with some clarity about the
thinking that sits behind aid policy in the region and that this information
would be useful in helping me to answer the questions that guide this
research.
Development consultants were also interviewed for this study in order to
provide further depth and to allow the voices of people in the recipient
nations to be represented. I considered this to be important because it is
often the case that when a programme is operationalised in a recipient
nation, local development consultants are recruited to give advice on matters
of delivery and implementation. One of the reasons donor organisations do
this is to help them to translate development programmes, which can be
fairly generic, into local contexts. In this way, local development consultants
are involved in the development process at this level and participate in
elements of social change that aid programmes can bring about.
As noted earlier, this research has been constructed as a single case study.
The phenomenon under study is the international development programmes
that provide leadership development to the education sector at both primary
and secondary school levels. Also, as discussed earlier, fieldwork was
carried out in Fiji and Tonga. I chose to include participants in Fiji for two
reasons. The first reason is that international development programmes in
the Pacific often take their strategic direction from donor organisations that
are based in Fiji. The second reason is that a flagship leadership
development programme for the primary school sector is currently in
operation and this is particularly relevant to this study. The programme is
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significant because it aligns closely with the MDGs and there are no other
programmes that focus on local leadership development in the primary
school sector in the Pacific region.
I also decided to collect data in Tonga and the reason for this was that I
wanted to speak to people who were based in a recipient nation where
development programmes are often led by strategic decisions that are made
in Fiji. With this in mind, I hoped that data collected in a country other than
Fiji would yield rich material that spoke to a different educational sector and
national context. The other reason I decided to go to Tonga is because a
flagship leadership programme is being run there that focuses on secondary
schools. The programme in question does not reflect the MDGs and this in
itself provided me with information about what happens in programmes that
are not aligned with the goals of international development. Also, there are
no other programmes in the Pacific that focus on leadership development in
secondary schools so this made the Tongan programme unique.
By combining data from Fiji and Tonga into a single case study I was able to
find out some important information about key primary and secondary school
leadership programmes across the region. The contexts that these
programmes operate within are also significant; one programme was run in a
country where strategic direction is created (i.e. Fiji) and the other was run in
a country where development programmes are operationalised as an
outreach service (i.e. Tonga).
Given the small size of the development community in the Pacific and the
limited number of educational leadership programmes in operation
throughout the region it was not possible to prevent the programmes from
being identified and participants in this study were aware of this when they
agreed to be interviewed although I have maintained confidentiality about the
identities of the participants themselves. In Fiji, the programme of interest to
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this study is the Access to Quality Education Programme (AQEP). In Tonga,
the programme of interest is the Tongan Secondary School Leadership
Programme (TSSLP). My supervisor, Dr. Kabini Sanga, advised me that I
would need to select programmes that were currently operating because it
would be very difficult to locate participants who had been involved with
programmes that had concluded because once a programme has ended the
people who managed them often move on to other projects.
Collecting data in two nations had a number of advantages. First, it allowed
me to explore leadership development programmes that were designed for
primary schools and secondary schools. I would not have been able to gain
access to both these education sectors if I had collected data in only one
country. The other advantage of going to two countries was that there is a
small number of people working in this sector of the industry and within each
nation, people know each other well. As such, if a single programme in one
Pacific country had been the focus of this study anyone familiar with the area
of study would be able to identify the participants. Moreover, the small
number of prospective participants within a single country study would not
have provided enough depth to answer the research questions. By
conducting interviews in two nations, I was more likely to be able to protect
participant confidentiality. I have undertaken to prevent identification by
ensuring that I have only quoted material in this thesis that would be very
difficult to ascribe to any particular individual. Matters of confidentiality are
discussed further later in this chapter in the section on ethical considerations.
As well as conducting semi-structured interviews, I analysed policy
documents in the public domain to gain addition information about donor
organisations. This provided me with ‘official’ information about donor
organisations and I have included some of this material in the literature
review. From analysing these documents, as I shall discuss further later in
this thesis, I was able to ascertain that donor nations tend to apply
transactional leadership typologies when describing the needs of aid
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recipients. This is at odds with the servant leadership styles for which the
Pacific participants in this study expressed a very strong preference.
Summary of the research process
In the next sections of this chapter I discuss how I set about collecting data
for this project. For the sake of convenience, however, I have summarised
the overall process in the diagram on the following page.
Figure. 4.2: Summary of the research process
Summary of data collection process
The kinds of methods that are commonly used in qualitative research include
document analysis, semi-structured interviews, field notes and observation.
These methods are often used in combination with each other as a way of
gaining a deeper understanding of the subject matter and this is the case in
this thesis (Creswell, 2012; Johnson et al., 2008). In the course of this
138
research, I used a range of methods, including field notes and semi-
structured interviews. As I shall discuss later in this chapter, I also conducted
a document analysis of a selection of material produced by donor
organisations that can be found in the public domain. This material was
placed alongside the interview data giving me a means of comparing and
contrasting the different perspectives and themes that emerged in the course
of this research.
Participant selection criteria
Convenience sampling was used to select the participants for this research.
This type of sampling is generally applied when the participants are known to
the researcher (or in this case, the supervisor) and are willing to engage with
the research. Consequently, I selected participants because it was
“convenient” to do so (Johnson & Christensen, 2008). Creswell (2005)
explains that in convenience sampling the researcher cannot say with
confidence that the sample is representative of the total population. In this
research, however, because of the small size of the development community
and the limited number of educational leadership programmes operating in
the region I can be reasonably confident that a degree of representation in
this particular case has been achieved.
The main selection criteria for this research were that the participants were
involved with international development programmes within the education
sector in the Pacific. The participants included a high-level government
official, programme directors, international development agency consultants,
international development recipients and international development
consultants. Six participants each were selected in Tonga and Fiji, with
twelve participants in total interviewed for this study.
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Data collection
Data collection took place during November 2013 and February 2014.
Leading up to the collection of data, participants were contacted and I invited
them to take part in this research project. Many more than twelve
prospective participants expressed a willingness to be involved but they were
all very busy and several people were unavailable when I was in the site
nations. For those who were available, I arranged a date, time and place to
meet at their convenience. I then met with each participant individually to
explain the research topic, the different stages of the research, data
collection processes and how I intended to use the data. At that point, I
invited them to give their written consent to be interviewed.
Each interview lasted between 45 minutes and an hour and a half and I used
a list of questions and issues to guide the direction of the interview. A copy of
the interview schedule appears in Appendix One although it should be noted
that this was used as a guide only. I also kept my own set of notes about my
experiences in a field journal and this was very useful as an aide-memoir
when it came to analysing the material.
The interviews were recorded and transcribed and this allowed the
perspectives of the participants to be examined in depth at a later date
(Creswell, 2012). The semi-structured interview method allows for relatively
flexible interaction between the participant and the researcher so that an
agreed understanding of both the questions and the responses can be made.
As such, it is a method that can convey fine details that may not have been
noticed had other data gathering techniques been used.
I asked open-ended questions during the interviews so that each participant
could freely express their views about the subject. In some instances, the
participant replied with a rich tapestry of knowledge that fell outside the brief
of the research questions. When this happened the participant was given
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time to talk and then I refocused the interview process. I should add here that
the apparent digressions from the interview questions offered some
fascinating insights into these programmes and I have attempted to convey
some of this expertise and knowledge in the findings chapter.
When interviewing participants, I ensured that they understood each
question and provided clarity and context where needed. The questions
were well-suited to the research topic and participants were able to answer
the questions easily. In addition, I kept a field journal during this phase of the
data collection. A field journal is a researcher’s way of keeping track of what
has happened, who was involved, where the event took place and why the
event took place and how it came about. The use of a field journal allowed
me to record my own impressions of the fieldwork and it proved to be an
invaluable tool particularly in the analysis phase of the project. I wrote up my
field notes immediately after each interview took place.
With regard to the recording of interviews, I attempted to limit the background
noise during interviews to help make the audio recordings clearer. This had
mixed results, however, because although most of the recordings were loud
and clear, in some cases the sensitivity of the microphone and the level of
background noise made parts of some interviews difficult to transcribe.
Impact of researcher on data
I met many of the participants for the first time during the data collection
phase and this may have influenced the data that were collected. Another
researcher who has an existing relationship with the participants may have
obtained different results. One way that I felt that this had an impact on the
data was that it seemed that participants gave rich and very detailed
descriptions about topics closely related to the subject matter as a way of
educating me as well as providing context to the topic. I was enormously
grateful to the participants for doing this as it greatly extended my knowledge
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of the subject. I am fortunate that the rich data that I collected was
somewhat similar across all of the participants. There were some slight
variations, however, these can be attributed to the position that the
participant held in relation to the programmes in question. An example of
this was that a programme director understood some of the issues faced by
recipients whereas the recipients expressed the same issue in terms of the
frustration they felt. In this way both parties understood the issue but
positioned themselves in different ways.
Data management
All semi-structured interviews were audio recorded with the permission of the
participants. Each interview was assigned unique code that did not identify
the participants or the geographical location of the interview. For example,
an interview held on December 22, would be designated 22 December Data
Collection Audio Recording A. When multiple interviews were held on the
same day, the letter A at the end of the file name would be changed to B. In
this way the letter designation identifies that each recording is different from
any others made on the same day. As soon as practicable I listened to the
recording, made notes then transcribed the interview.
Each audio recording was uploaded to a secure online server (Dropbox) for
safekeeping as soon as it was possible. When I was in the Pacific, I had
problems uploading large mp3 files to Dropbox. This was because the
upload speed was relatively slow and this made uploading the interviews a
long and slow process. To ensure that the information was backed up and
kept secure, it was transferred to a removable flash drive that was kept in a
location that was different to the audio recording device. Once a stable and
fast internet connection was located the files were uploaded immediately to
Dropbox online storage. The username and passwords to these recordings
were known only to myself.
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The transcribing and checking process
The interviews were recorded using a mp3 recorder and transcribed using an
evaluation copy of Express Scribe Transcription Software Pro and Microsoft
Word. I transcribed the interviews as soon as it was practical to do so using
low interference descriptors (Johnson, et al., 2008). ‘Low interference
descriptors” is a term that refers to the practice of transcribing words as they
were spoken by the participant and making only very minimal changes that
do not affect the meaning. Consequently, the interview extracts that appear
in the findings chapter of this thesis closely resemble the language used by
the participants.
I also put ‘feedback loops’ in place so that I could answer any questions the
participants had about their transcripts and my initial findings to ensure that
these provisional findings were an accurate reflection of the interview from
their point of view (Silverman, 2006). A feedback loop refers to the process
of checking results with participants to determine if their findings are
accurate. (Creswell, 2015). In this case, I sent a copy of the transcript to the
participant concerned and asked them to let me know if they wished to add
or delete material. This also gave them an opportunity to further clarify or
add to the transcript if they chose.
Data triangulation
Data triangulation is an inductive process that occurs when multiple data
sources of differing perspectives about an event or context are used in a
research study (Yin, 2009). In this research, semi-structured interviews, field
notes and observations and document analysis were bought together to
explore the relationship that international development programmes have
with educational leadership within the field of study. The use of multiple data
sources made it possible for me to validate the findings by exploring different
views of the subject. I discuss the analysis phase further in the section
below.
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Data analysis
The interviews were coded in line with the research questions and from this
process a series of themes emerged. During the analysis phase I looked for
patterns, commonalities and themes but I also looked carefully for
irregularities and outliers. The irregularities were investigated to ascertain
their significance to this research. As discussed earlier in this chapter, there
were few outliers in this research (Braun & Clark, 2006).
During the initial research phase, a number of documents of importance
came to light. As these documents were identified, they were prioritised and
attempts were made to locate, inspect and gain permission to use them in
this research. In all cases the documents were produced with the intent for
them to be read and used by the public. As such there was no need to gain
permission to use any of the documents used in this research.
Thus, once the interview data were coded and analysed, I placed the themes
alongside the public domain documents that I had selected. These
documents were produced by donor agencies and included donor policies,
project data, conceptual papers, and other reports. They provided a deeper
understanding of the development and aid context in the Pacific from the
perspective of the international development agency. That said, it is likely
that only reports that were favourable to the international development
organisation were published. The high number of positive reports does not
reflect that international development projects are often successful. Instead
they are understood as being representative an undisclosed proportion of the
total number of projects.
Yin (2009) explains that when document analysis is being used as a method,
researchers should be aware that some documents may not be accurate or
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they may contain some form of bias and in some cases may be edited from
what actually occurred. Also, Yin (2009) notes that some events may not be
documented and that the lack of documentation is not a justification for the
event not occurring. Document analysis had a number of benefits in this
study in that I was able to use it to corroborate information from other
sources (Yin, 2009).
The documents that I have analysed in this study were written for an
audience that is different to the academic audience targeted by this research.
They are structured in such a way to put forward perspectives that were, in
many cases, very different from those expressed by the interview
participants. When scrutinizing documents from this perspective I had to be
careful that any inferences I made were based on an awareness that they
were not peer reviewed and in many respects, they could be typified as
publicity material. That said, they provided me with useful information about
how donor organisations in the Pacific wish to be seen and this was of
relevance to this study.
Ethical considerations
This research received ethical approval from the Victoria University of
Wellington, Human Ethics Committee. In conducting the research, I followed
the ethical guidelines of the New Zealand Association for Research in
Education (NZARE). Approval for undertaking this research was also gained
from the appropriate agencies in Fiji and Tonga. In addition, this study
adheres to the University of Otago Pacific Research protocols which were
specifically developed to respect and honour the relationships between
academic researchers and the peoples of the Pacific.
As noted earlier in this chapter, because of the small size of the development
community in the Pacific and the low number of educational leadership
programmes operating in the region it was not possible to prevent
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identification of the two programmes that are discussed in this thesis and the
participants were aware of this at the time they agreed to participate. I have
protected the identities of the participants themselves, however, by using
pseudonyms and by ensuring that data storage was secure, as is discussed
earlier in this chapter. In addition, the participants were given the option to
select their pseudonyms so they could identify themselves in this research.
Only two participants took this option.
In the course of this research, I ensured that participants were aware of the
voluntary nature of their participation in this project and at the time of
interview we discussed this as well as their right to withdraw from the
research, without prejudice, if they chose to do so. I have included a copy of
the consent form that participants were asked to sign in Appendix Two:
Research consent form. In addition, we talked about how I would handle
matters of confidentiality. Matters of informed consent were also considered
important in this study and I talked in depth with the participants about the
aims of the project and answered any questions they had about it. In this
respect, I sought the participants’ informed and voluntary consent to be
interviewed. I have included a copy of the written information that I gave to
the participants’ about the project in Appendix Three: Research information
sheet. I also sought permission to approach people associated with the two
programmes from the programme leaders of the programmes. Finally, I
ensured that the participants had an opportunity to review the interviews to
ensure that I had accurately represented them.
The passing away of a participant
During the research process, but before member checking took place, one of
my participants passed away. Although this may be identifying to people
within the Pacific international development community it is noted here
because this person’s discussions with me about the research topic remains
in the findings and discussions. The topics and subject matter discussed
with this participant was echoed by other participants and it seemed more
appropriate to leave this persons voice in the research rather than remove it.
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My thoughts and prayers are with the participant’s family.
Summary of the procedures used in the construction of this research
Below in Figure 4.3 I have provided a summary of the process that I
followed during this research. It is provided in graphical form for
convenience.
Figure 4.3: Summary of the procedures used in the construction of this
research
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Summary of chapter four
Chapter four describes the qualitative process that I followed to conduct this
case study research and the radical humanist paradigm that has guided my
decision-making as I designed the project. Twelve participants were
interviewed and these data were placed alongside public domain documents
during the analysis phase. In Chapter five, I discuss the theory that
underpins the ways that Pacific people engage with the world. This
discussion is placed after the methodology chapter because it provides
insights into elements of Pacific cultural values that contextualise the
participants’ perceptions discussed later in Chapter six.
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CHAPTER FIVE
AN ONTOLOGY OF ENCOUNTERS
In the previous chapter, the qualitative methods used in this research were
discussed and the radical humanist paradigm that guided the design of the
project was explained. I argued that in this thesis the nature of social reality
is considered to be both subjective and fluid and researchers who place
themselves within this paradigm tend to be very committed to social change.
In this chapter, I extend the radical humanist paradigm that has shaped my
approach to the analysis and interpretation of the ways that people within the
local Pacific context interact and engage with each other. In line with this, I
use a Wantok Framework (Ratuva, 2010) to explain how these engagements
play out. The wantok framework will be referred to again later in Chapter
seven - the discussion chapter, as a cultural schema that provides the basis
of common and shared understandings that shape the engagements that
take place between Pacific peoples and others in a fluid and rapidly changing
social world. In other words, the wantok framework is a guiding principle that
frames encounters with others and it is a way of life in many Melanesian
cultures, for example, in the Solomon Islands. Some concepts of the wantok
Framework are observed in Kerekere in Fiji, Fa’a Samoa in Samoa, Anga
Fakatonga in Tonga and Tikanga Māori in New Zealand. Thus, the wantok
framework is used in this thesis as a way of weaving together a range of
cognate concepts that are used across the Pacific. It is also applied here as
a means of understanding the encounters between people who are involved
in the international development domain in the region.
A Pacific framework
When non-indigenous researchers write accounts of indigenous peoples they
often do so using a western lens as opposed to exploring the theories,
philosophies and worldviews that have been constructed by indigenous
groups (Gegeo & Watson-Gegeo, 2001). Within the Pacific, indigenous and
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local understandings of the world are of central importance to the people
themselves and as a Māori researcher I also consider that indigenous
worldviews are important. To that end I have drawn on indigenous Pacific
perspectives to explain what is going on in communities in the region with
respect to international aid. This approach is in line with Huffer and Qalo
(2004) who argue that,
a body of Pacific thought should contribute to the establishment or affirmation of a Pacific philosophy and ethic – a set of applicable concepts and values to guide interaction within countries, within the region, and with the rest of the world. The ethic must be acknowledged, understood, and respected by all who interact with Pacific Island communities (Huffer & Qalo, 2004, p. 89).
The body of thought I shall be referring to in this thesis is the wantok
framework; a cultural schema that underpins the way that Pacific people
interact with each other on a day-to-day basis. As Thaman argues,
Even today, Pacific peoples share worldviews that comprise intricate webs of inter-relationships that provide meaning to, and frameworks for, living and cultural survival. Generally manifested in various kinship relationships, such frameworks not only define particular ways of being and behaving, but also ways of knowing, types of knowledge and wisdom, and how these are passed on and/or communicated to others. (Thaman, 2009b, p. 3).
These worldviews focus on the wellbeing of the collective and the complex
network of relationships that hold it together. Gegeo (2001) describes this as
a Pacific way of thinking about the encounters between people that is
embedded in indigenous lives but like Thaman (2009b) he also contends that
it refers to Pacific ways of knowing. He argues,
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The perspective of a growing number of us Pacific Island scholars, however is to approach research from a communitarian perspective, that is research that is not only applied (targeted to make positive changes) but is firmly anchored in Indigenous or Native epistemologies and methodologies. (Gegeo 2001, p. 492).
In the Pacific context, communitarian perspectives, or reciprocity, are not
represented in state policies, however, as Ratuva (2010) argues, they are
deeply embedded in the cultural and social norms of Pacific communities,
villages, clans, and kinship systems. Reciprocity frames the encounters that
take place within and between Pacific peoples and nations and is one of the
things that characterises the cultural behaviours of people in different
countries with diverse Pacific cultures and heritages. In this study, I have
adopted a particular theoretical lens to my understanding of reciprocity in
Pacific contexts and I have done this by using a wantok framework.
According to Ratuva (2010),
the wantok framework is based on collective responsibility, the community has an obligation to look after the other members of the community. This obligation can take the form of reciprocity or exchange of goods on a daily basis. People who do not have food can always ask their relatives, and later, when their relatives need food, it will be their turn to ask. (Ratuva, 2010, p. 53).
The Wantok framework was selected as a solution to a problem orientated
challenge. During the research process, participants often discussed the
‘Pacific way’. Respondents were refer to the commonality across the Pacific
region. This knowledge is well known in the Pacific context. Rather than
provide detailed descriptions of the ways that the culture in Fiji and Tonga
are similar, I choose to refer to the source data.
With regards to human migration patterns in the Pacific region, Hurles,
Matisoo-Smith, Gray and Penny (2003) contend that the first settlers must
have crossed the ocean from Southeast Asia to colonise the Solomon
Islands. Over time, the Pacific region was colonised from the Solomon
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Islands. This explains why there are cultural similarities across the Pacific
region. What this also means is that the philosophical underpinnings of the
culture in the Solomon Islands represents the source data of other Pacific
cultures. Consequently discussing the philosophical underpinnings of the
Pacific from a Solomon Islands perspective becomes relevant.
Gordon Nanau (2011) suggests that the term, wantok, has powerful
connotations in south-west Pacific nations in particular. It refers to distinct
groups and communities that form an ideological and cultural link between
pre-contact and post-colonial periods (Nanau, 2011, p. 31). The term wantok
has reasonably recent origins; it came into common usage during the 1800s
with the development of Melanesian Pidgin and its literal translation is “one
talk” or “one language.” It refers to the mutual and reciprocal responsibilities
and obligations one has to members of the tribe or clan (i.e. those who speak
the same language) (Forster, 2005). In this respect, its meaning represents
important aspects of contemporary daily life in many Melanesian societies
that date back to the beginnings of tribal and cultural memory. The wantok
system is known by many different names in different parts of the Pacific but
its characteristics and values are similar. It is a way of understanding and
engaging with everyday life as a Pacific person and in this respect it is one
representative strand amongst many that are at work in the contemporary
Pacific. I argue here that there are many ways of enacting a wantok system
in the region but it centers on a set of commonly held principles and cultural
norms that characterise indigenous encounters in the Oceania and the
Pacific.
Wantok: A Pacific philosophy
Across the Pacific, many island communities share some commonalities
including linguistic and cultural similarities. This has been attributed to a
pattern of human migration that extends from Asia though Melanesia,
eastwards to East Polynesia and then south to New Zealand (Addison &
Matisoo‐Smith, 2010). Whilst there is a significant degree of cultural diversity
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across the Pacific, a shared value for Pacific peoples is reciprocity. People
reciprocate when they reward kind actions and punish unkind actions. In the
cultural domain, reciprocity takes into account that “people evaluate the
kindness of an action not only by its consequences but also its underlying
intention” (Falk & Fischbacher, 2006, p. 293). The wantok framework is a
Melanesian way of seeing the world that is founded upon this notion of
reciprocity (Nanau, 2012; Ratuva, 2010). Nanau (2011) argues that to be a
wantok is to be part of a complicated network of social and community
organisation that relies on a system of rituals, traditions, cultural protocols
and customary behaviours that govern the encounters within and between
individuals and clans.
By way of example, one community in the south-west Pacific that lives by a
wantok-based social system is on the island of Malaita in the Solomon
Islands. Sanga and Walker (2012) explain that Malaitans have their own
constructions of reality that reflect the social and material world they live in.
In this respect, they argue, the nature of Malaitan reality exists socio-
physically, “the Malaitan reality is also spiritual; existing supernaturally and
affirmed by socio-physical manifestations” (Sanga & Walker, 2012, p. 225).
Within this context, Malaitans experience the human-spiritual realm as a
coherent, integrated and interlocking whole (Sanga & Walker, 2012).
According to Nanau (2011), in pre-contact days, clan groups of wantoks lived
in villages that were protected from negative supernatural forces by village
sorcerers. Clan members often lived in fear of people from other villages
because of these practices which invoked supernatural forces. These rituals
extended well into the post-contact colonial era and ultimately became a
form of Malaitan cultural resistance to the British and German missionary
projects and colonial regimes whose leaders were generally very dismissive
of sorcery and ritualistic magic. As Nanau (2011) comments, “anti-colonial
movements in the Solomon Islands appealed to supernatural forces and
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interventions to establish Kastom (way of life) that people would identify with”
(Nanau, 2011, p. 37).
In terms of a Malaitan ontological worldview, however, “an integrated socio-
physical-spiritual view of the world is natural” (Sanga & Walker, 2012, p.
225). For Malaitans, as for many peoples in different parts of Oceania and
the Pacific, the wantok view of relationships therefore includes not only the
clan, but also ancestors, the environment and people in other communities
(Lea, 1993; Sanga & Walker, 2012).
The ontological positioning of Malaitans informs the way the wantok
framework is constructed in that particular context. Sanga and Walker cite
Gegeo and Gegeo-Watsons’ (2001) argument that, “such arrangements
mean that feelings towards others (affection) are sought out first; these
feelings then influence how Malaitans feel (body), which in turn influences
what people think (mind); the mind (cognition) is not independent or
objective” (Sanga & Walker, 2012, p. 225). Alongside these considerations,
a wantok must also maintain the appropriate attitude towards others as well
as one’s ancestors. Living within a wantok system therefore means that
people’s activities are constrained, “by these links to ancestors, communal
traditions and the other sentient and insentient creatures which make up the
environment. Because one must carefully observe these relationships,
individuals find themselves subject to very strong restraints” (Lea, 1993, p.
92)
As such, the way that wantoks think about the world determines the way they
behave towards others and ultimately how they manifest the wantok
framework in their own communities. These communities are often kin-
based and while these principles can guide the kinds of encounters that
place in nurturing ways it is also a system that can generate antagonism
towards members of other communities. As De Renzio (2000) argues,
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the way membership is defined for wantok groups depends clearly on strong ties of kinship, and is therefore neither voluntary nor inclusive; moreover, social relations are based on a very restricted kind of reciprocity, which often implies mistrust of outsiders” (De Renzio, 2000, p. 23).
In this regard, ideas about wantok and Kastom are features of a Melanesian
perspective that gives a sense of identity to clan members which allows them
to enact and accord value to common objectives but may also separate one
clan from another in less peaceable ways (Nanau, 2011). Accordingly, the
importance of the wantok system cannot be under-estimated in the
Melanesian region where around 1200 languages are spoken although there
is greater linguistic homogeneity in the south Pacific region. In an
environment where many people do not speak the same language, over
millennia, different tribes and clans that inhabit the same islands have found
ways of engaging with each other. Thus wantok is literally a way of creating a
common language of engagement even when a spoken language is not
shared. As Lawson (2015) notes, however, wantoks can be united but this is
a system that can also underpin hostility towards other groups. When
conflicts between groups erupt, wantok systems are more often strengthened
rather than weakened because these cultural schema underpin attitudes
about the encounters between different groups and how they should be
carried out. This is an aspect of Pacific life that is often not considered by
donor organisations when aid programmes are established by community
outsiders.
What is wantok?
The wantok framework upholds traditional community values over individual
preferences (Lea, 1998; Arua & Eka, 2002) and this is a way of building and
maintaining strong relationships within and between tribes, clans and families
(Arua & Eka, 2002). Although it is known by various names in different parts
of the region, it is an aspect of culture that is built into the lives of Pacific
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peoples across the region and defines and characterises the way they
interpret and engage with every-day situations (Arua & Eka, 2002). Nanau
(2011) cites Kabutaulaka (1998) who, “likened the Wantok system to other
similar terms in the south Pacific region like Kerekere in Fiji and Fa’a Samoa
in Samoa where they all advocate cooperation between people who speak
the same language” (Nanau, 2011, p. 32).
Anga Fakatonga and Fa’a Samoa distinguish themselves from their natural
context and outside modernity. In practice, local people are constantly
negotiating the challenges of merging the local context and global influences.
Anga Fakatonga describes all of the characteristics that are endemic to
authentically live life from a Tongan world view. Anga Fakatonga is similar to
Fa’a Samoa in that Fa’a Samoa also refers to the features that guide an
authentic Samoan perspective. However Kerekere differs from Anga
Fakatonga and Fa’a Samoa in that Kerekere does not describe the Fijian
world view. Kerekere describes the act of reciprocity and generosity from
within the Fijian context. In this way Kabutaulaka (1998) means to say that
aspects of the wantok Framework are found in different Pacific nation states,
and consequently have different names. Consequently, there are aspects of
the wantok framework that are enacted across the Pacific that bring some
commonality to the ways in which cultural encounters take place.
According to Lea (1998), the wantok framework supports and strengthens
cultural protocols of social obligation. Wantoks often feel a very heavy
responsibility to provide other wantoks with resources (such as food, shelter
and cash) because it is a system that prescribes mutual sharing of benefits
advantages that an individual wantok may have (Lea, 1998). The framework
therefore provides a means for people to share what they with others in order
to meet the needs of the collective. From the point of view of the collective
this can be seen as a caring and nurturing part of community life (Arua &
Eka, 2002). Arua and Eka (2002) argue that, “[a]s far as the Wantok system
is concerned, asking is of no value at all. One gives to another knowing that
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it will be returned again, when there is need. Everyone benefits well in this
system” (Arua & Eka, 2002, p. 8). However, “to deny one’s Wantok is a
grave matter which generates social repercussions which threatens one’s
place or standing within the community” (Lea, 1998, p. 91). In this way, the
social obligation to help other wantoks is strong if only to avoid the social
repercussions that may ensue if those principles are not practiced.
Kastom not custom
The wantok framework is a network of people who share a common
language, come from the same general location, share kinship, operate
within common social, cultural or religious contexts and place ideas about
mutual reciprocity in exceptionally high regard (Arua & Eka, 2002; De
Renzio, 2000; Nanau, 2011). If wantok is the framework for these
encounters between people, then Kastom is a term that describes the day-to-
day operation of the framework. Kastom is a derivative of the English word
custom that has come to refer to the “set of practices used whenever
references are made to the Wantok system” (Nanau, 2011, p. 33). It
includes the practice of indigenous leadership, the practice of social and
cultural norms and is wantok group-specific (Nanau, 1998). In practice, the
customary attitudes of the wantok framework are divergent from and
“contrast strongly with the Western cultural attitudes which have been
concomitant with our market economy and technological advance’ (Lea,
1998, p. 92).
As Lawson (Lawson, 1997, p. 108, cited in Nanau, 1998) argues, “[k]astom
has been an important factor in countering the negative images surrounding
the worth of colonised people’s and the intrinsic value of their own cultural
practices” (Nanau, 1998, p. 33). Kastom became increasingly important in
Melanesia after World War II as a response to the colonising experience
(Nanau, 1998) and can be seen as an indigenous response to maintaining
their cultural identity within a globalizing world. Kastom differs from the
wantok framework in that Kastom explains the practice of what is done, while
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wantok explains why something is done. In this way, Kastom and wantok
are inherently linked and provide their practitioners with a sense of identity
that unites and defines them (Nanau, 2011). This is not to say that there is
one definition of Kastom or wantok and that it can be applied uniformly
across all social or cultural groupings, rather, Kastom is cast in locally cast
and varies according to the context (Nanau, 2011).
As noted above, the wantok system has both positive and negative features
(Arua & Eka, 2002; De Renzio, 2000; Nanau, 2011). It is sometimes
associated with nepotism where people are able to use their personal
connections to secure public service jobs or contracts and this can often
come at the expense of merit and equal opportunity (Schram, 2015).
Wantoks are also able to use their positions of influence to protect their own,
using Kastom as a valid reason for letting another wantok member do
something that would otherwise not be tolerated (Nanau, 2011).
It must be remembered that there are considerable social repercussions
when one wantok denies another advantages and benefits. This has caused
varying degrees of conflict in some Pacific nations and some of these
conflicts have been serious and violent. In the Solomon Islands, voters tend
to support candidates that they are related to (even distantly related to) and
hold in high regard within the wantok framework. Because of this, expected
or past performance with regard to policy improvements or service delivery
has little to with the election of public officials. This has tended to weaken
the incentives of public servants to deliver on improvements (De Renzio,
2000; Haque, 2012) and as a result, changes in state policies are often is
slow to take effect and there are opportunities for nepotistic behaviours and
actions to occur. Another disadvantage of the wantok system is that it is
difficult for an individual to increase their financial position because other
wantoks are likely to place demands on them as their financial situation
improves (De Renzio, 2000).
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Wantok as social capital
According to De Renzio (2000), the wantok framework is a source of social
capital because it is embedded in social relationships and provides
opportunities for mutual benefit through trust and cooperation. This is
because some social value is derived from the embedded networks that the
wantok framework supports. Although there is some similarity to social
capital as defined by Bourdieu (2000) the wantok framework sits aside from
this for two main reasons. Firstly, the work of Bourdieu is based on a
contemporary French context, and not a Pacific context. Secondly, the
historical roots of the wantok framework are embedded in the critique of the
colonising influence of the Western world. In this way the wantok framework
is able to represent a contemporary version of a traditional perspective that is
based on an independent philosophical base. Also, it would be erroneous to
equate the wantok framework too closely with Bourdieu’s theory of social
capital if only because the wantok framework predates Bourdieu’s work by
several thousand years.
The underlying source of the social capital generated by the wantok
framework is based on reciprocity (Nanau, 2012; Ratuva, 2010). However a
person’s actions whether they be kind or unkind depends on what they do as
well as what they believe will be the consequences of their decisions
compared to the consequences of other decisions. When a person wants to
reciprocate kindness with more kindness they form a belief about the first
person’s intentions. They then act on this belief (Dufwenberg & Kirchsteiger,
2004), “[s]ince intentions depend on beliefs, it follows that reciprocal
motivation depends on beliefs about beliefs” (Dufwenberg & Kirchsteiger,
2004, p. 237).
Consequently, the social capital that is formed within the wantok framework
is based on the belief that a person has in another person’s belief system. In
this way the wantok framework only exists in the minds of those that practice
it. Since it is based on traditional ways of perceiving the world, it is aligned
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with historical values. These values inform the participants about what is
appropriate and what the social and cultural implications are for not
practicing Kastom. Thus, the wantok framework supersedes what is
considered normal practice from a Western perspective.
Servant leaders and the wantok framework
If we look at the wantok framework from a leadership perspective, we find
that there are some commonalities between the wantok framework and
servant leadership. The commonality is that reciprocity is found in both
frames. From a leadership perspective, wantok members behave in a similar
manner to servant leaders. This is not to say that people within the wantok
framework practice servant leadership. What I argue here is that for those
that people who are interested in leadership, there are some commonalities
between servant leadership and the wantok framework. This means that
people who are members of the wantok framework and are interested in
leadership will find that there is a natural connection between the underlying
principles of the wantok framework and the servant leader typology.
A key aspect of servant leadership, for example, is that the leader has to be
a servant first and a leader second. Within the wantok framework, there is
an obligation for people to serve other wantoks before they serve
themselves. In this way, acts of reciprocity are common to both servant
leadership typologies and the wantok framework. Sendjaya (2010) explains
that servant leaders often sacrifice their own needs so that they are able to
meet the needs of others. A wantok would do the same often to her or his
own detriment. Van Dierendonk and Patterson (2010) explain that a servant
leader is able to influence others based on their service to others. A wantok
is also able to influence the future behaviour of others by placing the needs
of others before their own. De Renzio (2000) notes that when a fellow
wantok is in need of help there is an obligation on other wantok to provide
the necessary help. In providing assistance there are often financial or
resource based implications for the helper yet it is considered that help
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should always be willingly given. In this way, helpers serve others before
themselves and lead their followers out of difficulties towards a common
goal. The person offering the help or providing the resources is acting in the
same vein as a servant leader. Thus, both wantoks and servant leaders
naturally feel that they should serve others first. The wantok framework
emphasises the act of sharing and this creates a relationship between two
wantoks whereby one person is able to provide the necessary resources for
another person to attain a specific goal. From a wantok perspective, these
activities would not necessarily be framed as a form of servant leadership,
however, these actions fulfil the necessary leadership characteristics from a
leadership perspective.
In this thesis, I argue that in the Pacific region servant leadership is one of
the primary leadership typologies that is used. It is not defined so rigidly as
other leadership paradigms because it is naturally embedded within local
contexts. It is seen within the wantok framework in Melanesia, and the
variations of the wantok framework across the Pacific region. Aspects of the
wantok framework can be seen in Kerekere (Fiji), Fa’a Samoa (Samoa),
Anga Fakatonga (Tonga) and Tikanga Māori (New Zealand).
Summary of chapter five
In this chapter, I have discussed the wantok framework and explained that it
is founded on valuing community values over individual preferences (Lea,
1998; Arua & Eka, 2002). From a wantok perspective, wantoks feel that they
have a responsibility or obligation to help other wantoks when they need
help. Wantoks share resources, benefits or advantages to meet the needs of
the community. A wantok gives to another knowing that it will be returned
again when it is needed.
The notion of Kastom was also discussed. Kastom is a term that refers to
the day-to-day practices of the social and cultural norms of Pacific peoples’
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encounters with others and includes the practice of leadership. The wantok
framework describes why things are done the way that they are done.
However Kastom describes how things are done, so the wantok framework
provides the why and Kastom provides the how.
In this chapter, I have also explored the similarities between servant
leadership and the wantok framework. Servant leadership and the wantok
framework are similar because they both place service to others first. What
this means for leadership in the Pacific region is that aspects of servant
leadership are embedded within the frame of Pacific social and cultural
norms.
In the next chapter, the participant’s perspectives about the research
questions are examined. The interview process uncovered a trove of rich
data that exceeded the capacity of this research to present. What is
presented here is a selection of the participant’s words that address issues
relating to international development in the region.
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CHAPTER SIX
FINDINGS
The wantok framework was explored in Chapter five and its framework of
reciprocity was discussed. I also explained that Kastom describes how the
wantok framework is enacted in day to day activities. The wantok framework
is presented as a representation of the different Pacific variants that can be
found across the Pacific region.
Aspects of the wantok framework can be seen in Samoa also known as
Fa’asamoa, Tonga where it is called Anga Fakatonga and in New Zealand
where it is representative of Tikanga Māori. In Fiji, Kerekere describes the
act of reciprocity which is the underlying philosophy of the wantok
Framework. Rather than describe similar concepts from different nations,
the Solomon Islands version was chosen because it represents the initial
incarnation of the indigenous concept.
As people populated the Pacific region small changes were made to the
wantok framework as people moved from island to island. The similarity
between the wantok framework and Tikanga Māori can be easily drawn
suggesting that the fundamental essence of the wantok framework has
remained though its different iterations.
In this chapter the findings are presented in three sections based on the
research questions. In this way the findings are a reflection of the
participant’s responses to the research question. The first research question
describes what Pacific leadership is and how formal leadership development
programmes are framed within the Pacific context. The second research
question explains how recipients perceive international development from
within a Pacific frame. The last research question identifies the ways that
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international development enhances educational leadership development in
the Pacific region.
Research question one: What are recipient’s perceptions about Pacific
leadership and leadership development programmes in the Pacific
context?
I have organised the participants’ responses into four themes. First,
participants discussed what leadership and followership meant to them in the
Pacific context. Secondly, participants explained the ways in which
international development programmes are constructed in the Pacific
context. Thirdly, participants explained that there was a lack of formal
leadership development in the Pacific region. Lastly, there is some concern
about what happens when development programmes end. By answering the
research question in this way, understandings of Pacific leadership and
formal leadership development as it exists today begins to emerge.
Leadership and followership in the Pacific context. In the Pacific
context there are examples of both traditional and contemporary forms of
leadership. Traditional forms of leadership generally exists in the rural
context while contemporary forms of leadership is often found in urban
areas. Traditional ways of life continue to be practiced in different parts of
the Pacific. Culture and society is not static and new ways of doing things,
new beliefs and new ways of thinking about the world also feature in the lives
of Pacific communities. As one participant commented, “the Pacific is divided
up into sectors. There is the subsistence sector of the Pacific, meaning the
rural isolated Pacific, which is rural and traditional leaderships exists there.
So in the urban areas, it is a different world” (Executive Sir). People living in
urban areas of the Pacific have subsequently created leadership systems
that reflect some of the colonial British norms and practices that also came to
characterise the legal systems of Australia and New Zealand. Executive Sir
noted that, “what you are seeing in the Pacific is that you have the two
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systems existing side by side, the traditional system and then the modern
government structures and the modern statutory law” (Executive Sir).
A contemporary view of leadership in the Pacific context was summed up by
Pele who said that “leaders can be leaders at any level whether it’s at the
school level or the ministry level, everyone is a leader really” (Pele). This
captured the essence of what the participants believed that leadership is
about in the Pacific region. From this perspective everyone is able to be a
leader if given the right context. This is different to traditional leadership
typologies where a person is born into a position of leadership. Different
forms of leadership sometimes sit uneasily beside each other. Mahuika
explained that the traditional “concept of leadership is associated primarily
with positions with people with authority. So when talking about leadership
you’re talking about people born into the category of people with status”
(Mahuika).
Historically, hereditary leadership has shaped the ways that leadership is
exercised. New ideas about who has the right to challenge and the nature of
authority itself is changing. This is observant in well populated areas where
the colonial presence has been strong. As one participant said,
The Pacific way is very much about consensus and communal decision-making so it’s a bit hard. But the dichotomy is that that you have a chiefly system where one person is making the decision for the group, but within that group it’s a collective, nobody is meant to do more or less than anyone else or have any more or less say than the chief. I think you have to encourage more people to take on the chief’s role. A lot of people aren’t comfortable with it they don’t want to speak out and say what they think because it’s considered rude or it’s not what they’re used to. So just encouraging people to speak up and letting them know that we know that this isn’t the culture you come from. But in certain situations it’s important to do so. It’s important to have a voice (Alalahe).
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Alongside changing notions of leadership, new forms of engaging with
decisions-making and with decision-makers themselves are also beginning
to emerge and this has created a change in the way that people consent to
be led. This creates certain tensions. Mahuika explains followership in the
Pacific context by saying that,
culturally people always defer to leaders. In a way, when you have meetings you’ll find that the large majority just go there sitting with bowed heads just waiting for decisions to be passed onto them. Or even when there is an exceptional leader that comes around and says, “Let’s talk. What do you think?” You’ll typically hear people say ‘why don’t you just tell us what to do and we will go away and do it’ (Mahuika).
These approaches to followership sometimes extends to Pacific classrooms
where students are often seen,
sitting in lectures where questions are being asked and no one wants to answer. Not because they don’t know. They have a lot of knowledge to share. It’s just not what they’re used to. To do that to put themselves out there in that way. To stand forth on a topic and feel as if they can speak to it with authority. People feel that it is rude, it’s not something you do. Even in a context where it’s expected that you do that (Alalahe).
In the Pacific context traditional leadership structures sit alongside modern
government structures. This means that Pacific leadership is a twofold
system. In rural and isolated areas traditional leadership structures still exist.
While in urban areas modern forms of leadership and governance are
present. In this regard Pacific leaders are adapting their leadership practice
to suit the context. In rural areas people are born into leadership positions.
However in urban areas anyone can be a leader. Followership in the Pacific
context is still traditional. People defer to what the leader says, often waiting
to be told what to do rather than suggest other possibilities. This is also seen
in the classroom where students feel that it is rude to question the teacher.
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How are international development programmes constructed?
The participants had strong views about the ways in which international
development are constructed in the Pacific context. Many of the interviews
involved lengthy discussions about the complexities of international aid
arrangements.
Participants explained that AusAID is set up so that it provides funding and
resources for regional and bilateral initiatives. Regional programmes include
the donor partner and multiple recipient nations. Bilateral programmes
involve the donor partner and a single recipient nation state. It was noted
that the ways in which AusAID operates is similar to other development
agencies.
For Abeguwo, donor partners “are always trying to work out the difference
between bilateral programmes and regional initiatives” (Abeguwo). This is to
avoid duplication of services and is one way to make development
programmes more efficient. If a donor partners regional programme focuses
on leadership development, their bilateral programmes will concentration on
other areas of need. In the case of AusAID, leadership development is a
regional programme. This means that AusAID are guiding Pacific leadership
by involving multiple countries in a regional programme (Abeguwo).
There are times when the inputs of international development do not equal
the outputs and intended outcomes. From Alalahe’s perspective
“international development is a big business and it’s on a very large scale, so
you can lose sight within those big numbers […] [of what] your actually
meant to be doing” (Alalahe). Although it is important to support Pacific
institutions and Pacific leadership, this is not happening all of the time.
There is a tendency for development partners to bring everything that the
programmes needs from outside of the Pacific (Alalahe).
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Regional development programmes include multiple nations, and
consequently the scale that the programme operates at is very large. This
may mean that recipient nations do not have the capacity, or that donor
nations do not recognise that recipient nations have the capacity to provide
the services for regional development programmes. Developing service
delivery capacity of the Pacific is something that development partners could
enhance in years to come. Doing so would strengthen the economic
capacities of recipient nations as it would result in the increased retention of
funds in the local community.
International development partners have contributed to leadership
development in the Pacific context. This can be seen in the AusAID funded
Pacific Leadership Programme. In Bue’s experience “the Ministry [of
Education] sits down with the representatives [of development programmes]
and seeks funding from the donor parties. The Ministry [of Education] acts
as the intermediary between the international development agency and the
educational leaders (Bue). Issues arise over who should control how the
funding is allocated and who really holds the power in the donor-recipient
relationship. Historically this has been donor partners.
The difficulty is how aid organisations use the resources in a way that they can support the context. That is the question that aid organisations struggle with. Some people say why don’t you take the money and drop it to the local government, the community and let them decide what to do with it? The reality is that will never happen because aid organisations need to have some control over the funding. At the same time too much control over funding will mean that the design of the programmes will be determined externally so where is the balance of power? (Abeguwo).
Development programmes in the Pacific are partnerships with donor nations
and either one (bilateral) recipient nation or multiple recipient nations
(regional). They are constructed on a large scale and sometimes donor
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nations have the perception that recipient nations are unable to provide
programme delivery service expertise. The Pacific Leadership Programme
has attempted to utilise in country expertise in the service delivery aspects of
the programme, but then again the Pacific Leadership Programme was
described as an experiment and has been doing things differently to what is
often been done before (Alalahe).
Lack of leadership development in the Pacific. The emergence of
new ideas about leadership highlights some of the challenges that the
participants believed were important in the decision-making process. Five of
the twelve interviewees, for example, noted the lack of opportunities for
formal leadership development. These participants explained that while there
are programmes in the Pacific that focus on leadership development, most of
them do not orientate leadership from a Pacific perspective. Of the
leadership development opportunities that are available, many are run by
local churches (Abeguwo, Lahaina). Despite this, however, the opportunities
for educational leaders to acquire new skills are few and far between.
The participants considered that the lack of comprehensive home-grown
programmes was a problem for two main reasons. Firstly, they noted that
local leadership models need to be developed so that members of Pacific
communities can navigate the often highly conflicting demands of traditional
and modern ways of life (Executive Sir). Secondly, because many existing
leadership programmes are informal and run on an ad hoc basis, they are
not always measured to see how well they have worked (Alalahe).
A few leadership programmes do exist. Within international development
programmes attempts have been made to ensure that people who engage
with them ultimately have a role in decision-making or are placed in positions
of influence. The problem with many of these programmes is that they tend
not to apply Pacific ways of thinking or local cultural practices and fail to
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mobilise communities. As one participant notes, “I haven’t seen any donor
programmes that focus on Pacific leadership, Pacific knowledge and the
Pacific way of growing leaders. So there is a deficit in the way international
aid is impacting leadership Pacific” (Executive Sir). Another participant
added that it would be positive “if we can grow more leadership from within
the Pacific, [because] that is where the good ideas come from” (Alalahe).
With regards to educational leadership, Mahuika explains that
Of the 31 [Principals], only one Principal had had any training whatsoever in educational administration. The rest none. No formal training in educational leadership or things like that. These were just individuals that were probably very trustworthy teachers that were promoted into the position (Mahuika).
What this participant was explaining was that in the Pacific context, people
who attain leadership positions in schools often do so because they are good
teachers and there was a vacancy that needed to be filled. They often do
not have the appropriate leadership skills for the position prior to taking up
that role.
Mahuika also noted that “the quality of leadership training available is largely
dependent on the local situation” (Mahuika). In the Pacific region there is
some suspicion about formal leadership programmes, especially those
offered by outside agencies. This is because leadership development is still
a new phenomenon in the Pacific and it is still common that people inherit
traditional leadership positions (Mahuika).
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What happens when the funding stops? But what happens when
the development programme ends or when the economic or political priorities
of donor nations change? The recipients commented on this issue, noting
that it highlighted the power imbalance between outside funders and local
peoples. When donors change their minds about delivering aid to particular
regions or for specific initiatives, local communities can be left hanging. As
Lahaina comments,
When they [donor parties] change their priorities, it’s ok to have the funding. I learned it in New Zealand; it happens for Pacific people in New Zealand, it happens here in Tonga and in the Pacific. When they change their priorities they can pull the plug. What happens in the local community? It leaves it to us! It leaves the people. We rise up to deal with the situations like that. Either we forget about the project and continue on without it, or we carry on in some form (Lahaina)
.
One way that international development has supported leadership
development is explained by an interviewee. “I think we [the TSSLP] are the
only ones that have brought the Tongan secondary principals together for the
first time in history” (Mahuika). In this way the secondary school principals
are able to network and receive professional development in a way that is
targeted. Another participant agrees and says
If we take the example of the TSSLP, I think just by observation and listening to the people, it has changed people’s attitudes, peoples view on how they work with school children. But at the same time the other impact that they are actually creating the frustration within a community. So it’s best not to touch it than begin a programme and create frustrated people around. I’m sure that is one of the impacts (Lahaina).
The frustration that this participant refers to was caused by the TSSLP
having their funding stopped before the anticipated end of the programme.
In this way the local community feel frustrated by the lack of ongoing support
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from the donor organisation. The frustrations was caused because as one
participant said,
This is an AusAID funded project [TSSLP] and it’s only happening because there’s funding. But this too has a very limited life. In fact we have already been informed that come June next year (2014) Australia is withdrawing it’s funding for no apparent reason other than a change in government and other things. The emphasis is now strictly basic education. And because we are dealing with secondary school education we are outside of the scope of their new policy (Mahuika).
It is in these kinds of situations that local people feel a little like puppets who
are manipulated by other people and this can create considerable
resentment. Another participant agrees saying that,
The donor money is based on self-interest. It’s based on their own agenda. When the gate opens for people to apply for aid. They say here is the window. We determine to you, here are the areas, it’s on human rights, it’s on free speech, and gender maybe. So they determine where you put the money. It’s not based on needs. And it changes based as the political landscape the in the donor country changes (Executive Sir).
When donor nations change their policy directions there is a direct
consequence for recipient nations. Donor nations seem to change their
policy direction because of self-interest. In this way policy direction
regarding international development is donor focused. When donor policy
changes, development programmes that the policy impacts on is likely to
stop. This often occurs because the recipient nation is unable to provide the
resources for the development programme themselves.
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Insufficient resources in schools. An issue in recipient nation’s
states is that there is often not enough money to pay for all the resources
that are needed. Recipient nations are known to be resource poor, this is
one of the reasons why development programmes are in such high demand.
Mahuika found that “there is barely enough money to pay for the staff wages.
Most schools are left to fend for themselves in terms of operational spending”
(Mahuika). When this occurs schools tend to rely on the goodwill of parents
to fill the gap and provide resources to pay for necessities like text books and
photocopying (Mahuika).
The lack of resources in schools are limiting the educational outcomes of
students in recipient nations. This has created the perception that to obtain
the desired educational outcomes for students you need to send them
abroad to another country. Afekan argues that “the impact is that [you] do
what you can do here with what you have. If you want to do anything else
you have to try and leave Tonga and continue your study elsewhere”
(Afekan).
Although education is highly valued by parents, the expectation of what
schools should be doing, how education should be delivered and how
knowledge can be constructed is low. However with the help of development
partners this can change (Mahuika). While the educational outcomes for
students in recipient nations can be improved, parents understand the value
of a good education. This is one of the reasons why some parents perceive
that educational outcomes in other nations is preferable. Improvements in
the education sector in recipient nations will improve the local economy and
over time reduce the dependency on development programmes in the
education sector.
Aid dependency in the education sector has helped maintain a perception
that education in other countries are able to provide better educational
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outcomes. This occurs because there is often a lack of resources in
recipient nations. In the absence of development programmes the deficit in
resources has been partially met by parents and the local community. The
wider community do their best to accommodate the needs of the school, but
often this is inadequate.
Research question two: What are recipient’s perceptions of
international development in the Pacific context?
This research question attempts to uncover the perceptions that recipients
have of international development in the Pacific context. The views of
participants have been categorised in three ways to create an understanding
of the Pacific context. Firstly it identifies that the Pacific culture which is
based on reciprocity, this is the philosophical space that the Pacific sits in.
Secondly that development partners provide the capacity for recipient
nations to change their behaviours. Thirdly international development is seen
as a form of colonisation.
Reciprocity in the Pacific context. Although it is known that the
nations in the Pacific region differ in terms of culture, language and social
interaction, the participants in this research indicated that there is a shared
understanding that reciprocity underpins the social interactions in across the
Pacific region.
It seems as though the participants provided descriptions of the Pacific
context from the position of how they wanted the Pacific to be perceived,
rather than how it is perceived. Interviewees tended to place some
emphasis on the positive aspects of the Pacific context and avoided
conversation of historical conflict. Two participants (Abeguwo and Executive
Sir) did talk about issues of corruption in some examples of international
development in the Pacific. During these conversations it was made clear
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that international development could make improvements to the service
delivery of leadership development to mitigate the incidences of corruption.
Generally there was a tendency to focus on the good aspects of the Pacific
way and downplay or simply avoid conversation of the negativity.
From the participants perspective the Pacific way is based on reciprocity.
This was understood to mean that across the Pacific region kind or positive
actions are rewarded with other positive actions.
Our culture, even though the Pacific is about reciprocity, is about serving the other person. Some people have fused their culture with their Palagi ways, but reciprocity is to serve others without asking what they want. Rather knowing in what ways I can be of service to you. In fusing Palagi ways with traditional views you keep the essence of reciprocity, but it is applied differently (Bue).
Another participants agrees and says that
the Pacific ways is not all good. There are some norms of the Pacific way that needs to be done away with. But there are some key elements that need to be kept. For example reciprocity is an element of Pacific way that needs to be kept. Family, respect for family. But that does not mean that respect for family you don’t become a critical thinker (Executive Sir).
The literature explains that while reciprocity is not represented in the policies
of Pacific nation states, it is entrenched in the cultural and social norms of
the individual Pacific cultures (Ratuva, 2010). This is not meant to reduce
the diversity in the Pacific to a simple concept. Instead it argues the point
that Pacific nations share the concept of reciprocity. It is important for Pacific
peoples to weigh up the kindness of a person’s actions as well as their
underlying intention (Falk and Fischbacher, 2006).
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Reciprocity in the Pacific context plays a role in the ways in which Pacific
peoples treat each other. Applying critical lens to the act of reciprocity in the
Pacific context leads me to think of the Pacific context in two ways. By this I
mean that reciprocity is a social way of favouring the acts and behaviours
that are good or considered appropriate. However it can also lead to
behaviours that in other contexts would appear to be corrupt or nepotistic in
nature. One participant explains that for leaders there is sometimes the
expectation that the leader will favour those that helped the leader attain the
seat of leadership. By doing this it is understood that the leader will retain
the seat of leadership (Abeguwo).
This is of concern in the context of international development as there is a
fine line between creating and maintaining socially appropriate relationship
and ensuring that development programmes are free of corruption and are
transparent.
Participants and the literature agree that reciprocity is entrenched in the
social behaviours of Pacific peoples. However, this does not by itself define
or characterise the Pacific people as a single homogenous group. Each
Pacific nation state is different from other Pacific nations in terms of social,
cultural and governance contexts. The Pacific shares reciprocity as a form of
commonality upon which their individual social and cultural contexts are built.
Reciprocity frames social interactions in a positive way and influences more
positive social actions.
Improved leadership capacity. Pacific communities have the
capacity to change. We know this because development programmes are
common in the Pacific and the intention of development programmes are to
make positive changes to recipient communities. Even though recipients are
grateful for the support of donor partners, there is a need to frame the
support that is provided using a Pacific lens. Maui believes this “because if
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we don’t contextualise it, it’s just another way of re-imposing foreign
templates and hoping that it works and in most cases it doesn’t” (Maui).
Development programmes have improved the leadership capacity in local
communities. An example of this is the improvement in way that educational
leaders interact with students, teachers and parents. Mahuika explained that
in their development programme, “students have shared how teachers don’t
beat them anymore in many schools and greatly reduced in some”
(Mahuika). During an educational leadership training session,
a female principal confessed to have hit not just students but teachers as well. This particular principal shared how after attending a couple of our coaching trainings then one day a mother came into her office complaining about a teacher who had hit her child. She said that everyone was expecting uproar. But she decided that she would try and use the coaching method. So instead of scolding the teacher in public like she would have normally done she called the teacher into her office and started coaching instead. And she said before long the teacher was in tears apologizing promised to make amends with the family and the child and the principal could not believe that she was able to accomplish that in peace. (Mahuika)
As seen in this example, development programmes are making a difference
for educational leaders. This is an indication that the Pacific context has the
capacity to make changes in the ways that educational leaders behave.
Donor partners are increasing the opportunities for leadership development
programmes to increase the personal leadership capacity of leaders. For
Lahaina “the problem would arise if that is not the kind of leadership that
development partners have in mind. And then we would therefore be
building capacities, developing capacities forever to meet the particular,
whoever, the outsider’s definition or standards of leadership” (Lahaina).
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Some questions have been raised about who determines what capacities
need to strengthened in the Pacific region.
In my time in New Zealand there has been a focusing on capacity building. Building the capacity of Pacific and Māori people to catch up. Bridging the gap, and I think it is a flawed way of looking at the world. That we will forever be building the capacity because who determines the agenda, who decides the standard that we need to aim for. Nobody not Pacific (Lahaina)
For Pacific leader’s weather in the education or another sector, the question
is who determines what Pacific leadership capacity should look like.
Development programmes tend to focus on leadership characteristics and
capacities that are favoured by donor nations. There is some suspicion that
donor partners determine their own strategic priorities and in doing so
determine what Pacific Leadership should look like and the ways in which
leadership capacities should be built.
Donor partners are developing leadership capacities in ways that are
different to traditional modes of leadership. Developing leaders using
leadership development programmes is not traditional. In this way leaders
are being created using a non-traditional frame. This is likely to produce
leaders that do not use traditional leadership typologies. Although leadership
development programmes harness and gain some leverage from the
knowledge contained in the leadership literature, there is some concern that
the forms of leadership that are created are not from a Pacific perspective.
Development partners using external consultants. Donor nations often
recruit external consultants to work on development programmes. However,
as Abeguwo notes “the debate is how you can bring in a leadership expert
from abroad that will train and develop leaders and leadership within a
country, sector [or] community” (Abeguwo). In the past there has been
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some criticism of using external experts in the local context. Alalahe
commented that “for many years Australian Aid have spent a lot of money on
consultants. They’ve been pulled up on it and they are much better now, but
for a long time that’s where the money was going” (Alalahe).
While donor nations are predisposed to using external consultants, this
frequently causes frustrations for recipients.
Rarely would you get a good consultant who understands the local context. The consultant may have the expertise in a particular area which is important. We have decided that perhaps we should charge the consultants. Every time they come here to find out about us we are educating them, so we are forever educating consultants that have been employed to come out and develop us. So who is developing who? We develop them to be able to write about us, so we think that we should come up with a charge, and charge the consultants that come here and try to find out about us (Lahaina).
A proportion of the funds allocated to development programmes are not
spent in the recipient nation state. Instead it is spent on recruiting external
consultants to work in the recipient nation state. This disregards the
expertise that is available in the recipient nation state. Loau, for example
commented “we have people in Tonga that are fit to do the job. They are
qualified from western countries from world recognised universities, but they
don’t have that job” (Loau).
One of the issues in using external consultants is that they often do not
understand the local context. As Bue argues “It’s hard for them to
understand the Tongan context. […] The palagis understand that they do not
understand the context” (Bue). The solution has usually been to either
develop the external consultant so that they are able to contextualise the
knowledge and skills they bring to the development programme, or to recruit
locals to operationalise the programme (Pele, Executive Sir).
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External consultants tend to come to the Pacific with preconceived notions of
what is expected. Developing external consultants to understand the local
context is important. When this is not done well it can cause some
frustrations.
When they [external consultants] come, they come from a different reality. […] It’s like they are forcing us to move from our reality, move from what we are used to and adapt to their perspective which does bring a lot of problems for us. It is very frustrating (Loau).
There is some inconsistency in how well external consultants take on the
lessons about contextualizing their knowledge. Some have done it well while
others have not.
Some of the consultants working in education in the region are crap. Some of them are good they are few and far between. But a lot of them aren’t worth their salt. […] They’re more interested in either conveying or bestowing their ideas on their less fortunate brethren in all the Pacific countries. Or they’re there for a holiday. […] It’s very frustrating (Alalahe).
But international development is changing. Participants believe that recipient
nations have the capacity to determine their own destiny and that the
potential of Pacific people have been exposed to development partners.
Maui’s experience is that “aid is shifting into a more recipient friendly.
Whereas before it was more donor driven. […] What is expected of the donor
[is] to facilitate the assistance so that it can be fully maximised by the
recipient” (Maui). Historically this has not been the case.
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The use of external consultants have been frustrating for recipients for two
reasons. Firstly that there is a perception that external consultants do not
understand the local context sufficiently. There is the perception that some
external consultants are there for a holiday. Secondly there are domestic
consultants that are appropriately qualified and experienced that are able to
replace the external consultant. But they are not recruited. Historically there
has a pre-disposition for donor nations to recruit external consultants rather
than domestic consultants.
International development as a form of colonisation. Seven of the
twelve participants see international development as a continuing form of
colonisation (Lahaina, Bue, Loau, Afekan, Abeguwo, Maui, and Executive
Sir). This seems to be based on the fact that “all those agencies
[international development agencies] have their own agenda. They have
their own strategic priority areas. They decide where their funding ought to
go. NZAID/AusAID all of them have got their own, like any organisation you
would have your strategic plan, what are the priorities for the Pacific this
year” (Lahaina). Donor partners appear to have a plan about how they
manage their relationships with Pacific nations. By strategically planning the
future of the Pacific, there is some strength in the argument that international
development is a continuation of colonisation. Donor partners are attempting
to make changes to the Pacific through development programmes that
support the donor nation’s agenda. From the recipient’s perspective, there is
some similarity between international development and colonisation.
“International development is basically just another form of colonialism”
(Executive Sir). There was a time when the colonial powers administered
and governed the Pacific. In their absence Pacific nations became
independent and created their own forms of governance with all of the
bureaucracy that accompanies it. “But what you are left with is that you still
have international aid, which is a way of saying because you are not fully
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developed you need financial help to improve your systems of leading, your
lifestyle and everything” (Executive Sir).
Today donor nations support change in recipient nations through
development programmes. Development partners are external actors who
attempt to influence changes in villages and provinces in the Pacific
(Abeguwo). From Abeguwo’s perspective “as an external actor we
[development partners] can try and influence some of them [villages and
provinces]” (Abeguwo). Sometimes development partners come with their
own agenda and do not always engage well with the local community. Loau
states that “the westerners come with their western view and just do what
they want to do and sometimes do not talk to us” (Loau). It is important for
development partners to work with and consider the needs of the local
community. Sometimes development programmes do this well, at other
times they do not.
An interviewee explains to their students that “If anyone is going to make a
difference in this country it’s you and I because we know the context, we
know the needs, and we know the language of the people” (Maui). There is
a need for local people to be involved in the construction and delivery of
development programmes. Doing so will help ensure that the knowledge
that is transmitted though the development programme is contextualised
appropriately. Bue explains that
if a non-Tongan ran a Leadership Programme it won’t work, I know it won’t work. Leadership is so connected to you, who you are, too culture. They just don’t know. They will not appreciate the context. It will just not work. It would be utterly stupid if a Palagi turned up and run a programme, and they are apologizing from beginning to end about being culturally inappropriate (Bue).
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For one interviewee, international development is about maintaining power
relationships. Who has the power in the donor recipient relationship?
It’s almost like power relations, power play, it’s like maintain the status quo for the donor over the recipient and when that happens and that is what I refer to as being on a level playing field and we both agree to that. Otherwise power play is in force. The power play will always exist without equal partnership. So what we have to do is create a kind of mutual understanding that we agree and sometimes we have to agree that we don’t agree (Maui).
Participants have good reasons to suspect that international development is
a continuation of colonisation. In the absence of colonisation, development
partners (many of whom are former colonisers) are continuing to influence
and impact the development and growth direction of recipient nations. Donor
nations do this from a distance through the use of development programmes.
The similarities between colonisation and international development are seen
in the ways in which donor nations use conditional and tied methods of
making development programmes more efficient and effective. In this way
donor nations are able to influence recipient nations to make changes to their
domestic policies. Also donor nations come to the international development
table with their own agenda and vision for the region. Because of this the
nature of international development in terms of intent and action are similar
to colonisation.
Development programmes need to be contextualised to the local context to
gain maximum value. Sometimes this is done well and at other times it is
not. However the key to the future of development programmes lie with local
people. The knowledge of local people cannot be underestimated. By
engaging well with local people development programmes are more likely to
be successful. This is because local people know the needs, and
understand the local context. Engaging with local people and designing
development programmes from their perspective will go some way to
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dismantling the idea that international development is a continuation of
colonisation.
Research question three: In what ways are international development
programmes enhancing educational leadership development?
In answering this research question, participants made three points. Firstly
that the church is heavily involved in the professional development of leaders
in the Pacific. Although the role of the church falls outside of the scope of
this research, it featured in the conversations with participants. The church
provides a time and place for parishioners to exercise leadership. This is
commonly known in the Pacific. The conversation about the church
providing a space for leadership development features in the findings of this
research to ensure that the contextual voice of the participants remain.
Secondly participants describes what is meant by educational leadership
capacity. Lastly interviewees explained the ways in which international
development enhances leadership development in the Pacific. This includes
providing funds, resources and infrastructure. Participants were also critical
of donor partners.
This dialogue is included to show that recipients are grateful for the help that
international development partners are able to provide. However there is
room for improvement.
The Church. A common theme generated in the discussion was
about the presence of the church and its function in Pacific society.
Participants clearly understood the difference between the church and
international development, however they sought to include a conversation
about the church because it was appropriate to do so. The value of the
church in Pacific society cannot and should not be underestimated. It is
entrenched within Pacific society and helps guide and determine what is
considered to be the Pacific way.
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Seven of the twelve participants talked about the role that the church plays in
the both the provision of schools and leadership development in the Pacific
context. For Aguna, “the community life and church life is impacting on the
school life, and educational leadership in the Tongan context understands
this” (Agunua). This is important as the church impacts on educational
leadership in two ways. Firstly that they provide schools throughout the
Pacific region (Mahuika, Abeguwo, and Alalahe). In Tonga this is especially
true. Mahuika has experienced this and says that “a few [schools] are run by
government, but the majority, about 70 percent or so are run by churches”
(Mahuika).
Secondly that through participation in the congregation, churches provide a
place where leaders can grow and practice leadership skills that are later
utilised in the wider community (Agunua, Lahaina, Bue, Abeguwo, and
Executive Sir). Bue explains this by saying “I get professional development
from my church, my colleagues and family. There is no leadership
programme [for senior educational leaders]. You just collect from your
environment. Very Pacific, you just collect form your environment, you
absorb it, you hear things and see what works” (Bue).
One participant explains that “church is a very important part of the Pacific
way. Although Christianity was introduced to the Pacific, the values of
Christianity are so fundamental and so critical for this region to survive and
prosper” (Executive Sir). The church is strongly featured in the way that
Pacific culture is constructed and this is common across the different
countries that make up the Pacific Region. Because of this, the church
features strongly in the leadership development of Pacific peoples.
Although the work of the church fell outside of the focus of this research, the
church seems to play a part in the both the provision of schools and
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leadership development. The function of the church in the Pacific includes
being the primary agent that fills the gap between what the Ministry of
Education in Pacific nations can supply, and the supplements that
international development provide.
The church plays a role in leadership development by providing a space and
mechanism for people to practice leadership in the community. The lessons
learned in this context are able to be transferred into other sectors and in this
way the church is supplementing leadership development programmes. In
the Pacific context, the church is embedded in the local context and can be
considered the default leadership development process.
Educational leadership capacity. When assessing leadership
capacity for educational leaders, research has shown that the use of either
quantitative or qualitative research methodologies can have a significant
impact on the outcomes of research. Quantitative research has indicated
that educational leadership has an indirect relationship with student
outcomes, concluding that the effect of the educational leader is mediated by
the effect of the teacher (Robinson, Lloyd & Rowe, 2008, Leithwood & Day
2007). However qualitative case studies often examine examples that vary
significantly from the norm. In this context leadership has been shown to
have a high impact on learning outcomes for students (Firestone & Riehl,
2005). Despite the differential outcomes related to research methodologies,
school effectiveness and improvement may be dependent on leadership
capacities (Hulpia, Devos & Rosseel, 2009).
Leadership capacity refers to both the numbers of leaders practicing
leadership as well as the personal skills a leader has. Mahuika describes
personal leadership capacity as being about “equipping people with tools and
strategies and thinking skills with which to accomplish what they would
otherwise not been able to do” (Mahuika). Alalahe furthers this saying that
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“when you’re talking about individuals you’re talking about their internal
capacity take on any given job or role. Or you’re talking about a country and
weather they have leadership capacity. You’re talking about both those
things” (Alalahe).
Leadership development programmes such as the TSSLP and AQEP have
increased the internal capacity of leaders in their programmes (Mahuika and
Pele). In the TSSLP Mahuika has “been trying to help educational leaders
become are people with vision, people who behave ethically are people that
are good in terms of organisation and management of resources. People
that are well connected to their community and things like that” (Mahuika). In
the AQEP
a lot of the focus of our work is really capacity developing leaders at the school level, so we’re helping them at the micro level in terms of schools. […] We’re trying to improve the ability of the school community which comprises leaders weather it’s the leader of the school [or] the leader of the management committee of the community that’s made up of parents and chiefs and the like (Pele).
Another way to improve leadership capacities is to provide scholarship
programmes for students. Abeguwo commented that “students who pursue
studies abroad and these are funded by development agencies are
improving their knowledge and skills but are also exposing them to
environments where they will be expected to fulfil some of the characteristics
of a leader in the future, preparing them to be better leaders” (Abeguwo).
When people talk about enhancing leadership capacity they are referring to
either the personal skills of a person, or the number of leaders in the country.
How the term leadership capacity is used largely determines whether we are
talking about the personal skills a person has or the number of leaders in a
given area.
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There are two ways that international development is able to impact
educational leadership. The first way is to provide development programmes
that focus on the professional development of educational leaders. This is a
way of improving the personal skills that educational leaders embody. The
second way is to provide scholarships to students. In this way education
system is growing leaders for the future and increasing the number of
leaders for tomorrow.
How international development enhances leadership
development. The Pacific Leadership Programme is a flagship international
development programme. Alalahe explains that a flagship programme “is
significantly larger than any other projects in the portfolio. It’s very high
profile” (Alalahe). The Pacific Leadership Programme provides funding and
strategic direction for a number of educational leadership development
programmes in the Pacific region including the TSSLP and AQEP. Through
the Pacific Leadership Programme, AusAID has been able to enhance
leadership development in the Pacific region. The programme itself operates
as a regional programme, consequently it focuses on providing assistance to
multiple nation states.
Development programmes can impact on leadership development directly or
indirectly. Leadership programmes that are tagged as leadership
development have a direct impact on leadership development. However all
development programmes, regardless of whether they are tagged as
leadership development have aspects of leadership development embedded
in it. In this way development programmes that are not tagged as leadership
development have an indirect relationship with leadership development.
Pele remarks that “I am sure that indirectly or directly there is always going to
be some leadership development that occurs naturally because that’s the
nature of the benefits that accrue out of any development programmes I am
sure” (Pele).
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International development programmes that are not tagged as leadership
development contain aspects of leadership development because the people
working in the programmes are in a position of leadership. As part of the
development programme the people who work in the programme often lead
the local community in a strategic direction. To do this the development
consultant needs to have leadership skills that are appropriate for the
context. In this way all development programmes have aspects of leadership
development embedded in them.
Some interviewees were critical of the enhancing effect of international
development. The influx of resources and infrastructure to recipient
communities can sometimes tempt people to be corrupt. Executive Sir’s
opinion is that this can be combatted “if international development creates
institutions that will grow a new crop of leaders based on ethical and
entrepreneurial leadership, we will reduce corruption; we will reduce violence
and will strengthen accountability in institutions” (Executive Sir).
Generally speaking, the participants in this study did not talk about negative
aspects of international development. Instead they tended to focus on the
positive work that donor nations are achieving. Executive Sir believes that
leaders that are strong in ethics and entrepreneurial skills will be an
advantage in the Pacific context where there have been historical cases of
corruption. “International development has enough resources and
infrastructure. For example in the Solomon Islands it has led to corruption”
(Executive Sir). Corruption in international development has been well
documented in the literature, although it has not been focused on in the
literature review in this research.
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Donor partners have enhanced development programmes by providing
resources and infrastructure. Donor and recipient nations agree what
resources and infrastructure will be provided by the donor nation. Using Fiji
as an example one interviewee explains that “the government of Australia
and government of Fiji work out things that they (Australia) can support, then
they channel money into the [Fiji] Ministry of Education and the [Fiji] Ministry
of Education manages it because we have an agreement for what it’s for”
(Abeguwo).
From Lahaina’s perspective international development impacts recipient
nations “by building some infrastructure and things like that, we can’t just
build infrastructure and leave it there because the people have to work there”
(Lahaina). The people need to be developed to make use of the resources
and infrastructure that is on offer. Sometimes the resources provided are
what is wanted, at other times development programmes provide what is
needed. What recipients want is not always what is needed. However when
resources are provided they should be utilised. This is not always
happening.
One of the issues for schools is that teachers sometimes do not make full
use of the resources provided. One participant explained that at their
institution, “AusAID had been tremendous, we spent close to $80,000
Tongan dollars of AusAID money. They invested in sciences in particular.
But unfortunately the teachers did not seize the opportunity and make use of
it. That’s the problem” (Agunua).
Teachers indicated that help from donor nations was occurring but a large
percentage of the allocated resources were used to manage the
development programme rather than make changes in the classroom.
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At a basic level international development builds schools, puts books in, maybe computers depending on where you are, making it safe for girls to go to school and things like that. [However] when a figure about the financial contribution gets announced, maybe half that goes to a managing contractor to manage the programme. That’s just the reality of it (Alalahe).
In the classroom teachers said that they felt that teaching resources were
limited and an insufficient amount made it to the classroom. When this
happens they have to make do with what they have.
We are pretty limited with our resources here in Tonga. Having been a teacher myself in primary school we really had to make do with what we had at the time. We didn’t get much help from overseas that got to us. I think that they came in to help the Ministry as a whole. But when it came down to us teaching in the classroom the resources were limited. The resources never made it to the student (Afekan).
Development programmes tend to generally focus on the main islands. This
is often where there is the biggest populations. However what this means is
that more rural and isolated areas receive less development support. Loau
explains that “what donor countries that bring aid need to do are to reach out
to the smaller islands, not just the main island. Because what we mostly see
is that they only reach out to the main island. So the main island has the
benefit.” (Loau). Educational leadership development in the Pacific tends to
be different from Loau’s experience. This is because educational leaders are
bought together to be developed from remote locations for professional
development. However Mahuika indicated that educational leadership
development in the Pacific is still new (Mahuika).
In Lahaina’s experience “the funding helps. It helps to move people around
and bring people together to focus on the project. But the actual
implementation of the project depends on the people locally” (Lahaina).
Training local people is important. This is because leadership development
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programmes tend to focus on training local people. But often they use
external consultants to inform the training. External consultants need to be
able to work contextually in recipient nations. This may require external
consultants to be trained to deliver contextually appropriate knowledge. But
this has caused some frustrations for recipients who feel they are forever
training external consultants. But there are advantages to training local
people in this way. It retains knowledge in the region that is otherwise
lacking.
When you train people the multiply factor is much greater. It is an exponential multiplying effect. You’re making a difference in the lives in the people. […] So it’s very important the locals are trained so they can benefit from that. Because otherwise they bring their own people, they train and bring their own knowledge back. What is important is that the knowledge has to be translated to the local people. Because the local people stay. And that will determine the sustainability of that initiative and increase the leadership capacity (Maui).
International development does enhance leadership development if only in
the absence of international development the opportunities for leadership
development would be lesser. International development does enhance
leadership development by transporting people around the region and
providing resources and infrastructure.
All development programmes have aspects of leadership development
embedded in them. In this way all international development programmes
enhance leadership development. This occurs because development
programmes that are not tagged as leadership development require
development consultants to lead projects in recipient communities. When
this happens the development consultants need to be developed to lead the
community in a strategic direction. The knowledge and skills gained in this
capacity can then be used by the development consultant in other areas.
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Development programmes that are tagged as leadership development are
more directly enhanced by international development. Like development
programmes that are not tagged as leadership development, leadership
development programmes have aspects of leadership development
embedded in them. The rationale is the same. However because they focus
on leadership development, greater focus is placed on developing
participants in the programme. In this way both the participants and the
development consultants have their leadership capacities increased.
Participants have indicated that when development programmes provide
resources and infrastructure for educational leaders it is not always utilised
efficiently and does not always make it to the students. This may be
because the resources provided are not always what is wanted. It is
presumed that the resources that are provide are what the development
partners and the recipient nation liaison person has decided what is needed.
When there is a difference, educational leaders need to be trained to use the
provided resources. When the resources lie unused, it becomes a limiting
factor in the ability of international development to enhance leadership
development. Using the resources can only enhance the capabilities of the
leader.
Interviewees indicated that a sizeable percentage of the resources allocated
to the project are used in the creation and maintenance of the project. This
is a reality of any development programme. When the programme is
advertised to the public, the total value of aid is used. The costings for
designing and implementing the programme needs to come out of this fund.
There has been some concern that the use of external consultants have
absorbed a large amount of the resources allocated and that the consultants
themselves need to be developed before they can contextualise the
knowledge that they have. When resources do not make it to the classroom,
there is a perception that the money was spent on managing the project.
This cannot be denied. There is a proportion of funds spent on managing
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the project. However recipients need to focus on utilizing the resources that
are made available.
Although international development does play a part in enhancing leadership
development, the church seems to be the default way that Pacific peoples
obtain their leadership development. It is unclear from the research what
percentage of leadership development the church is responsible for.
However it is clear that in the Pacific context leadership development can be
obtained in three ways. Firstly from traditional means, secondly from the
church and lastly through leadership development programmes operated by
donor nations.
Summary of chapter six
In this chapter I have discussed the participants’ perceptions of international
development and leadership development in the Pacific context. Not all of
the participant’s views were represented in this research. At times the
discussion during the interview process talked about other associated
subjects that fell outside of the scope of this research. However several
themes did emerge that were representative of the participant pool. The
themes that are presented in this research were those that were common
from both the Fiji and Tonga participants. In this way the themes of this
research are more likely to be representative of the Pacific as a region.
Participants talked about; leadership and leadership development in the
Pacific context, how international development programmes are constructed,
how there is a lack of leadership development in the Pacific, what happens
when the funding to development programmes stop, described how
reciprocity exists in the Pacific context, how Pacific communities have the
ability to improve leadership capacity, the issues with donor partners using
external consultants, how international development is continuing
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colonisation in the modern day, that the church plays a role in the provision
of schools as well as providing leadership development to local leaders, and
how international development enhances leadership development.
In chapter seven these themes will be discussed in detail including
references to the literature. It will be postulated that Pacific leaders have a
common shared understanding that they use to guide their leadership
actions in both the traditional and modern contexts. This means that even
though the context changes and the leadership typology leaders use
changes to suit the context, there is a fundamental set of guiding principles
that is the same in the modern and traditional context. When people talk
about Pacific leadership, they are referring to the leadership action that is
guided by the common shared understanding.
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CHAPTER SEVEN
DISCUSSION
In Chapter six, I discussed the participant’s perspectives of the research
questions. The chapter was presented and organised by the research
questions so that the reader can gain some insight into the perceptions of the
participants. Care was taken to present the essence of what the participant’s
said. This was achieved by selecting appropriate quotes from the participant
interviews that support a range of recurring themes. There were some topics
that the participants talked about that are not represented in the findings
chapter. Largely these comments fell outside of the scope of this research
and provided a backdrop to the issues investigated in this thesis.
In chapter seven I move away from the research questions and bring the
themes together to tell a story. There is a strong alignment with the
participant’s perceptions and the literature. This brings some credibility to
the participant’s perceptions of the subject matter. There is also strong
internal alignment within the participant’s perceptions that span two nations
and various development programmes. In this chapter a description will be
provided that explains; how development programmes are constructed in the
Pacific, what happens when development funding ends, the recipients
perceptions of development partners using external consultants, that
international development is framed as a continuation of colonisation, how
leadership and followership is constructed in the Pacific context, that there is
lack of formal leadership development in the Pacific, that future leaders need
to be able to straddle both traditional and modern sectors of Pacific society,
and how international development enhances leadership development.
Concluding this chapter brings all of the themes together to form an
assessment of the relationship between international development and
leadership development in the Pacific context.
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In chapter eight recommendations will be made to find way forward into the
future.
The research participants
This research included participants who were involved with various
development programmes in the Pacific context. However there was an
attempt to include educational leadership development programmes that
were operational at the time of data collection. These were the Access to
Quality Education and Tonga Secondary School Leadership Programme.
Both programmes are part of the Pacific Leadership Programme which is
considered to be a flagship leadership programme in the Pacific. The Pacific
Leadership Programme is funded by Australia through AusAID.
Participants were included in this research if they had some experience with
international development programmes, mostly in the education sector in the
Pacific context. This included teachers, lectures, former and current
programme directors and development consultants. The size of the possible
participant pool is small, so restricting the participant selection process to
consultants and recipients that are currently engaged in educational
development programmes would have significantly limited this research.
By selecting participants in this way, this research was able to gain some
depth and richness that would otherwise be lacking. Including participants
that have been involved in development programmes that have ended as
well as the two AusAID programmes means that the findings from this
research are not solely based on programmes created and maintained by
AusAID.
Including and naming the two AusAID programmes is intended to highlight
two flagship educational leadership programmes that have added value to
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the Pacific community. As a regional programme the Pacific Leadership
Programme operates in multiple nations including Fiji and Tonga.
Participants explained that AusAID representative’s liaise with the local
Ministry of Education and come to an agreement on the ways in which
AusAID are able to support Educational leaders in the local context.
Other participants have been involved in development programmes that have
since ceased operating. These include donor nations other than Australia.
In this way a cross donor perspective was captured. Although participants
have been involved in different programmes, there were recurring themes
that came to the surface during the interviews.
How international development programmes are constructed in the
Pacific context
One of the participants (Abeguwo) explains how development programmes
work in the Pacific context. Development programmes in the Pacific are
tagged as either being regional or bilateral. Regional programmes have
recipients in multiple nation states. Bilateral programmes include only the
donor and a single recipient nations. From a funding perspective there is
regional funding and bilateral funding.
Donor nations are always trying to work out the differences between regional
initiatives and bilateral initiatives (Abeguwo). If a regional programme is
focused on a particular area, bilateral programmes will focus on other areas.
In this way duplication of service delivery is minimised.
Development programmes do use conditional and tied methodologies to
control the financial structures of development programmes. “But then again
aid is always politics. Conditionality and tied methodologies happen. This is
where the mutual arrangement comes in” (Maui). Donor nations and
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recipient nations meet and decide together what is needed and what can be
funded. This is conducted at a nation state level. Often the people working
with the community do not have input into the negotiations between donor
partner and recipient representatives. It is the recipient nation’s
responsibility to accurately describe and negotiate with the donor nation what
is needed at the community level. However the donor nation is guided by
their own strategic plan which may not align well with the needs of the
recipient nation. It is typical that the donor nation only funds programmes
that align well with their strategic direction. Because of this it is common that
programmes that do not align well with the donor partner’s strategic plan will
not be funded. Some recipient nations change the presentation of their
needs to align well with the strategic direction of the donor nation, while
others do not.
“The inputs don’t always equal the outputs and outcomes that you’re actually
seeking to put a programme in place” (Alalahe). It is difficult to conceive why
the inputs do not align well with the programme outputs. Mosley (1987)
explains that it is challenging to find a correlation between the gross national
product of recipient nation states and the value of aid received by the
recipient. This could mean that the financial inputs are being transformed
into social gains which is difficult to assign a financial value, or that funds are
being diverted into non-assignable and non-recoverable expenditure. It is
difficult for development partners to say that assigning this much funding and
resources will result in a definable change in the recipient nation. This
means that it is difficult to assess the overall effectiveness of any particular
development programme outside of meeting anticipated programme
outcomes.
What happens when the development funding stops?
The Tonga Secondary School Leadership Programme focused on
educational leadership in secondary schools in Tonga. However the MDGs
focus on providing universal primary education. This resulted in the Tonga
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Secondary School Leadership Programme having their funding stopped
because AusAID wanted to refocus their attention to other areas. A
participant explains it like this.
This is an AusAID funded project and it’s only happening because there’s funding. But this too has a very limited life. In fact we have already been informed that come June next year (2014) Australia is withdrawing it’s funding for no apparent reason other than a change in government and other things. The emphasis is now strictly basic education. And because we are dealing with secondary school education we are outside of the scope of their new policy. So that is where we stand at the moment (Mahuika).
Participants explained that having funding redirected to other purposes was
common and that when this happened there were two options. One option
was to carry on with the programme without funding and the other was to
stop the programme. It would be typical that the programme stops rather
than finding funding from other sources.
Recipients find it frustrating to have their funding stopped because of a shift
in the policy of donor nations. In the case of education in the Pacific, nation
states do not have enough funds or resources to equip their schools with
what they need to provide quality education. This is one of the reasons why
international development programmes focus on schooling.
When development programmes end it leaves a gap that needs to be filled
by the recipient nation. This need tends not to be filled by recipient nations
because there was initially a lack of resources which gave development
partners the opportunity to supplement schools and when that is taken away
we are back to the original position. Consequently when the funding stops
the needs of the recipient nation state are no longer being met.
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With regards to the Tonga Secondary School Leadership Programme, its
loss is devastating because it was the first educational leadership
programme of its kind in the country. It was the first time that many of the
principals had received any kind of leadership training, with many of the
principals having been promoted to the position because they were very
good teachers. Since the data collection phase of this research, it has come
to my attention that the Tonga Secondary School Leadership Programme did
not continue after the AusAID funding ended. This means that for the
foreseeable future there are no donor driven leadership development
programmes that target either primary or secondary schools principals in
Tonga.
Inconsistent funding of development programmes undermine the perceived
value of the quality of education that you can receive in recipient nations.
There is a perception that the education system in recipient nation states
have insufficient resources, infrastructure and support. The degree to which
recipient nations have insufficient resources, infrastructure and support
varies between countries. Some nation states have more than others.
Recipient nations do the best that they can with the shortfall being met in part
by the church, a lesser part by donor nations, and a small amount by the
local community. The shortage of quality educational opportunities support
the idea that if parents in recipient nations want their children to receive
quality education, then they need to send their children overseas. A
participant explains it by saying
I think that’s why for generations now, everyone’s always thought that further education overseas because they know there is a limit to what you can do in Tonga. So the impact is that do what you can do here with what you have. If you want to do anything else you have to try and leave Tonga and continue your study elsewhere (Afekan).
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When funding for educational programmes stop and is not replaced, it sends
a message to parents that the education in recipient nations is not of the
same standard as in donor nations. It tells the Pacific that donor nations are
not serious about education in the Pacific. There is an understanding that
when the funding stops, so do the resources that the funding was able to
provide. Parents are acutely aware of the impacts on the schooling system
when donor partners withdraw their funding.
Donor nations took the time to plan for the provision of universal primary
education, but when it comes time to build the infrastructure to support such
an ideal, donor nations are found to be lacking. When donor nations commit
to providing universal primary education they need to support other
associated tasks that universal primary education impacts on. For example,
if donor nations were successful in ensuring that universal primary education
occurred this would create more students for secondary schools.
Consequently a flow on effect of providing universal primary education would
be to support secondary schools to increase their capacities.
What this means for development partners is that there is a need to;
adequately resource schools, train teachers to a high level and support their
professional development, and make development programmes long term. It
appears that donor partners do not understand how to make long term
commitments to recipient nations that extend past the three year review
cycle. This is difficult for donor nations as the review cycle is often tied to the
election cycle of donor nations. As governments in donor nations change, so
does their strategic priorities and consequently the funding to development
programmes.
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Recipient perceptions of development partners using external
consultants
International development programmes have traditionally used external
consultants (meaning consultants not embedded in the local context) to
provide expertise to recipient nations. However this has caused some
frustrations. One participant explains that “some of the consultants working in
education in the region are crap. Some of them are good they are few and
far between. But a lot of them aren’t worth their salt” (Alalahe). External
consultants do not understand the context and need to be professionally
developed themselves. “They [donor nations] will never have the full
knowledge. So the debate is how you can bring in a leadership expert from
abroad that will train and develop leaders and leadership within a country,
sector [or] community” (Abeguwo). However another interviewee says
“Every time they [external consultants] come here to find out about us we are
educating them, so we are forever educating consultants that have been
employed to come out and develop us. So who is developing who? We
develop them to be able to write about us” (Lahaina).
Continued use of external consultants have frustrated recipients. External
consultants created a perception about themselves that one participant
explains as being as if “they’re more interested in either conveying or
bestowing their ideas on their less fortunate brethren in all the Pacific
countries. Or they’re there for a holiday. Some people you can see that
they’re there to do the minimum so that they can go off and have their
holiday on the weekends. It’s very frustrating” (Alalahe).
The continued use of external consultants has an underlying assumption that
domestic consultants (development consultant who are embedded in the
recipient nation context) are in some way inferior to external consultants.
This is clearly untrue. It is untrue because it would mean that there are no
appropriately qualified or experienced candidates that are based in the
Pacific. This is not the case. In fact there are many Pacific based
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development consultants that are appropriately qualified and experienced.
Some of them were participants in this research.
Development partners need to recognise the value of using domestic
consultants rather than external consultants. The added value of engaging
with domestic consultants is threefold. Firstly domestic consultants are less
likely to need professional development from recipients to understand the
local context. Secondly when the programme ends, the domestic consultant
is likely to remain in the local context. This enhances the likelihood that the
programme will be able to continue on in another form. External consultants
are far more likely to leave the local context, taking with them the expertise
that plays a critical role in the development programme. Thirdly it sends a
message to recipient nations that development partners take Pacific peoples
seriously and that they believe that the knowledge held by Pacific people is
the same as that of external consultants. This would go some way in
reducing recipient’s frustrations with regards to the use of consultants.
International development framed as a continuation of colonisation
Thaman (2008) explains that “once colonised by European powers and later
by Japan, USA, Australia and New Zealand, most Pacific Island Nations
(PINs) are now politically independent although economically dependent still
on former colonial masters” (Thaman, 2008, p. 462). One of the ways that
Pacific nation states are dependent on donor nations is because they are
dependent on development programmes from donor nations. Some “small
states such as those of the Pacific Islands region are increasingly dependent
on aid and the external ‘expertise’ that usually implies” (Coxon & Munce,
2008, p. 147).
Many of the participants believe that international development is a
continuation of colonisation in a different form. This is understandable
because of three reasons. Firstly that the colonisation of the Pacific by the
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west is still a recent event. Secondly that colonisation and international
development are undergirded by aspects of control of the recipient nation
state. Thirdly that an impact or effect of colonisation and international
development on the recipient nation is the oppression or changing/adaptation
of social and cultural behaviours in lieu of different behaviours.
When we talk about colonisation, what we tend to mean is the settlement of
lands by people who seek to take control of the land and resources from
those that lived there before them. This often means that there is a trend of
immigration of the colonisers to the new lands, and the expansion of their
culture. This may result in the fusion of or replacement of the indigenous
culture, or multiple cultures sitting alongside each other. International
development is different to colonisation in this regard. Colonisation implies
that there is settlement on lands by the donor nation in the recipient nation.
However international development does not require this. When recipients
have the perception that international development is a continuation of
colonisation, they do not mean it literally. It is a metaphorical statement that
recipients use to indicate that donor nations are still influencing the
development direction of recipient nations.
International development programmes attempt to influence the recipient
nation state through negotiated development contracts without the need to
maintain a permanent presence in the recipient nation state. Although this
makes colonisation and international development fundamentally different, I
would argue that colonisation continues on in the form of international
development. This is because at its roots both colonisation and international
development intend to make changes to the recipient nation from the
perspective of the donor. If international development was positioned from
the recipient’s perspective, I would argue that they are fundamentally
different. This tends not to be the case.
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The effects of colonisation are evident in the Pacific, and it cannot be denied
that colonisation has taken place. Participants have explained that what we
see today is that the urban areas are more modern, while the rural, isolated
areas of the Pacific are still traditional. In this way colonisation and
international development of the Pacific has had its greatest impact on urban
areas. Although many development programmes have attempted to make
changes in rural and isolated areas of the Pacific, differences in the amount
of development that has taken place still exist.
The colonisation of the Pacific by the west is still a recent event.
The colonisation of the Pacific by the west is still a recent event. As an
example, Fiji was granted independency from the British in 1970 while
Tonga, which was never formally colonised (Tonga entered into a
relationship with the British where it became a protected state under the
Treaty of Friendship in 1900) exited their treaty with the British in 1970.
Similar examples can be found in other Pacific countries.
Only 45 years has passed since Fiji and Tonga have gained their
independence from the British, consequently the era where the British were
able to influence domestic policy is still very recent. In this way participants
are able to say with some clarity that from their position, international
development is a continuation of colonisation.
Even though colonisation has formally ended, the memories of colonisation
are still fresh. Examples of the effects of colonisation are easily observable.
It includes; the fusion of culture and social behaviours of the coloniser and
the colonised, a change in traditional leadership structures from traditional
leadership typologies to modern leadership typologies, and changes to the
local economy from traditional styles of economies to a modern economy.
Although there is an argument that all cultures evolve over time, this is not
the case in the Pacific. It is true that culture in the Pacific has and is able to
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change over time. However with regards to colonisation, it changed to
accommodate the nuances of the coloniser. It cannot be argued that the
British did not have a colonising effect on the Pacific.
Colonisation and international development are undergirded by
aspects of control of the recipient nation state. Colonisation occurs
when one nation state has some control over another nation state. This is
similar to the experience of participants involved in development
programmes.
When donor nations use conditional and tied methodologies to manage the
efficacy of development programmes they are exerting a form of control over
the recipient nation state. This is because the conditional nature of
development programmes often require the recipient nation to meet the
conditions set by the donor nation ex-ante (before the programme starts)
(Svensson, 2003). This enables donor nations to have some control over
domestic policies of recipient nations. Some recipient nation states align
their domestic policies with the interests of donor nations so that
development programmes can occur. This diminishes the amount of
autonomy that recipient nations have over their own domestic policies. The
power relationship that occurs in the donor recipient relationship is biased
towards the donor. We know this because donor parties tend to only support
development programmes that are aligned with the interests of the donor
nation. The conditional and tied methods used by donor parties to control
the development programme does not allow the recipient nation to spend
and distribute resources as they wish. Recipient nations are contractually
obliged to follow the contracts that describe how development funds can be
spent and how resources are to be distributed.
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Colonisation and international development can change of social
and cultural behaviours. Traditional forms of leadership in the Pacific
tends to mean that you are born into a position of leadership. However in
urban areas this is becoming less common. The average person is now able
to become a leader more easily in urban areas. This is because
opportunities for leadership is more plentiful. Because of this, traditional
leadership typologies such as chieftainship typology applies less in urban
areas and more in rural areas. In urban areas leadership typologies other
than chieftainship are able to be observed. This includes servant leadership,
transactional/transformational leadership and educational leadership. In
urban areas, leadership development is able to be gained from the person’s
position within the family, the church and professional development courses.
Traditional leadership is strong in rural areas and traditional forms of
leadership development can be found there.
Development programmes that are tagged as leadership do not focus
exclusively on traditional forms of leadership development. Donor driven
leadership development programmes often develop people that are
employed in positions of leadership or have shown ability at being a leaders.
With this in mind, donor driven leadership development programmes tend to
focus on providing leaders with skills and experience they can use in the
working world. This means there are more leadership development
opportunities than would exist in the traditional context alone. This is
different to traditional leadership development which focuses on developing
leaders that have been born into leadership positions.
If we think of a Pacific Island nation state where the rural areas are more
traditional and the urban areas are more modern, we realise that the urban
areas must have been once traditional. Urban areas transitioning away from
the traditional way of doing things to the modern. Rural areas are also
developing, just at a slower rate.
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Pacific cultures, the church and modern systems.
In the Pacific context, there are three domains that exist concurrently. While
they can be thought of as being distinct, there is a degree of overlap that
exists. Sanga (2008) explains that there are three domains of social
relationships and influence. These are:
1. Pacific cultures and traditional systems.
2. The church/religious systems.
3. The formalised institutionalised modern systems.
For Pacific peoples, traditional systems and the church are intertwined in
rural areas. The formalised institutions exist but play a lesser role in rural
areas. In rural areas traditional systems are important and guide and
constrain the day to day activities of the village. In urban areas traditional
systems, the church and formalised institutionalised modern systems
embedded within day to day activities (Sanga, 2008).
This has an impact on the leadership development in both the rural and
urban areas of the Pacific. There is some suspicion that the church
represents more leadership development opportunities in Pacific nations
than international development. This is because the church has a greater
presence in Pacific nations than donor partners. Accordingly it stands to
reason that their impact on leadership development is far greater. Many of
the participants in this research said that they received their leadership
development from the church. They also said that there were few formal
leadership development programmes in the Pacific.
Figure 7.1 shows that traditional forms of leadership development exists
mostly in rural areas and lessens in urban areas. This occurs because in
rural areas traditional leadership is strong. Traditional leadership plays less
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of a role in urban areas where formalised institutionalised modern systems
exists.
Donor driven leadership development programmes are more likely to occur
in urban areas and are less likely to occur in rural areas. This is because in
rural areas traditional leadership is more common. Since development
programmes are part of the formalised institutionalised modern system, they
are more likely to occur in urban areas.
I believe that leadership development from the church is likely to occur in all
church congregations. Because of this in Figure 7.1 the distribution of
church leadership development distribution has been shown as being evenly
distributed in both rural and urban areas. It is worthy to note that in Figure
7.1 the size of leadership development conducted by the church is larger
than that of donor driven development programmes. This is because there
are a large number of churches in recipient nations. If all churches are
continuously developing leaders as the participants have indicated, then the
total number of church developed leaders is likely to exceed that of the donor
driven leadership development programmes. Also it is possible that the
people who participate in donor driven leadership development programmes
are also church members and consequently may have had some leadership
development from the church also.
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Rural Areas Urban Areas
Traditional
Leadership
Development
Distribution
International
Development
Leadership
Development
Distribution
Church based
Leadership
Development
Distribution
Figure 7.1: Leadership development distribution between rural and urban
areas of the Pacific
There is some agreement with Sanga (2008) amongst the participants who
explained that in the Pacific the traditional way of life is more prevalent in the
outer islands and that development programmes tend to focus on the main
island. “The Pacific is divided up into sectors. There is the subsistence
sector of the Pacific, meaning the rural isolated Pacific, which is rural and
traditional leaderships exists there. So in the urban areas is a different
world” (Executive Sir). Another participant explained it by saying “If you go
to the smaller island, the main island is further ahead in terms of civilisation
and development. Smaller islands are far away. It’s like going back to the
70s and 80s.” (Loau).
In rural areas traditional leadership is easily observable. Leadership
development in the rural context is gained from a leader’s family, the
community and the church. In urban areas there are more opportunities for
people to become leaders. This could be in the family or the church as in
rural areas, but can be extended to include work and sport contexts. In
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urban areas there are greater possibilities for leadership development to
occur as part of professional development programmes.
Pacific leadership.
In some areas of the Pacific leadership is still traditional. However in modern
areas traditional forms of leadership have merged with more modern forms
of leadership. One participant explains it by saying that “the dichotomy is
that that you have a chiefly system where one person is making the decision
for the group, but within that group it’s a collective, nobody is meant to do
more or less than anyone else. Or have any more or less say than the chief”
(Alalahe). This suggests that traditional Pacific leadership is moving away
from the traditional lens and is beginning to incorporate modern leadership
typologies. I say this because traditional leadership historically has meant
that the chief makes the rules for the group. However this is changing to a
context where the group collective are able to influence the decisions of the
chief.
Arguing that Pacific leadership is in a state of transition accepts that Pacific
leadership is rooted in traditional forms of leadership and this is changing in
some contexts. While traditional leadership still exists in the rural setting, it is
less common in urban settings. In the urban setting we see that anyone can
become a leader, if the context allows for it. This shows that contemporary
leadership typologies are being utilised in the modern context.
It is difficult to say what Pacific leadership is transitioning into. It is clear that
it is transitioning from traditional forms of leadership. Observationally it
would be hard not to notice the aspects of chieftain leadership in rural
settings and servant leadership in urban contexts. However there are also
characteristics of transformational and transactional leadership as well.
These are seen in the donor programmes.
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Leadership in the Pacific context can be viewed in two ways. Firstly that
leadership in the Pacific is traditional and can be described by the chieftain
leadership typology. One participant explains that, the traditional “concept of
leadership is associated primarily with positions with people with authority.
So when talking about leadership you’re talking about people born into the
category of people with status” (Mahuika).
Secondly there are examples where anyone can be a leader. This tends to
occur more in urban areas of the Pacific where the need for leaders is more
plentiful. This is because there are more leadership opportunities in the work
place, sports, cultural and church. One participant explains that “leaders can
be leaders at any level weather it’s at the school level or the ministry level,
everyone is a leader really” (Pele). While I was collecting data I observed
many examples of servant leadership. Not only from the participants in the
research, but also people that I met during my time in the Pacific. This has
led me to believe that servant leadership is dominant modern leadership
typology that is used in the modern Pacific contexts.
To describe this difference in terms of Pacific leadership, I believe that
Pacific leaders use traditional leadership typologies in the traditional context.
When placed in the modern context, Pacific leaders tend to use a servant
leadership typologies.
During data collection it became apparent that some of the participants were
leaders in their different areas of their lives. Some were leaders at work,
while others were leaders in the church or their family. Through the rich
detail of their conversation the participants indicated to me that there was a
“Pacific way” of behaving. To me this means that the “Pacific way” is
underlying the leadership decisions that a Pacific leader makes. Thinking on
this. I realised that Pacific leaders have a common shared understanding
and this is known as the “Pacific way”.
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When I thought of this in terms of the distribution of leadership typology in
the Pacific, I realised that the same leader is likely to use a traditional
leadership typology in a traditional context, and a modern leadership
typology in a modern context. This can be shown graphically in the diagram
below.
Traditional Context Modern Context
Traditional Leadership
Typology Distribution
(Black Triangle)
Common Shared
Understanding
(Green Shading)
Contemporary
Leadership Typology
Distribution
(Red Triangle)
Figure 7.2: Pacific leadership typology distribution between traditional and
modern contexts
Figure 7.2 illustrates that traditional leadership typologies occur more often in
traditional contexts. This lessens as the context becomes more modern.
Conversely modern leadership typologies are found less often in traditional
contexts and appears more in modern contexts. The green shading
represents the common shared understanding required to operate
successfully in the traditional and modern contexts.
When looking at the black triangle we see that traditional leadership occurs
more often in a traditional context and this leadership typology lessens as it
the context becomes more modern. The red triangle shows that the
contemporary leadership typologies occur most often in modern contexts but
this is likely to diminish as the context becomes more traditional. The two
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triangles are overlapped to indicate that the same leader may use different
leadership typologies in different contexts, but their actions are underpinned
by a common shared understanding.
The common shared understanding represents the shared beliefs and
knowledge that is present in both the traditional and modern contexts. The
knowledge is shared with other kinsmen and kinswomen. It is only in outlier
examples of the traditional and modern contexts that the shared
understanding begins to diminish. When there is no longer a shared
understanding the person can be considered to be outside of the context. If
a person does not have the common shared understanding they are likely to
not be a kinsman or kinswoman. I believe that this common shared
understanding helps inform the “Pacific way”. However it is informed by the
wantok framework.
This means that leadership typologies used in modern contexts are different
than that in traditional contexts. This may be because of the increased need
for more leaders in the urban areas who use modern leadership typologies.
However it also means that what we understand as Pacific leadership is in a
state of transition away from the exclusive use of traditional leadership
structures.
With regards to the development of external development consultants, Figure
7.2 would suggest that external development consultants begin with no
shared knowledge (the far right of the diagram). As they become more
contextualised their shared knowledge base increases and they move from
the modern context towards the traditional context (i.e. they shift along the
diagram). The amount of shift that occurs is relative to the amount of
common shared knowledge that they take on board.
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Development programmes that are tagged as leadership act in a similar
manner for traditional leaders. As leaders who are experienced in traditional
leadership typologies learn about modern forms of leadership, they are more
able to be leader in modern contexts and this is also represented by a shift
along the diagram towards a modern context. In this way with appropriate
professional development, it is possible to move between the modern and
traditional contexts.
What this means is that external consultants need to learn about the
common shared understanding that exists in the Pacific region, while Pacific
leaders need to learn about modern leadership typologies. This will result in
a movement from the outer edge of Figure 7.2 towards the other side. It also
means that when people have the common shared knowledge and
knowledge of modern leadership typologies, they are able to operate
efficiently and effectively in both the traditional and modern contexts. One of
the participants (Executive Sir) felt that developing leaders that were able to
straddle the traditional and modern contexts was important for the future of
Pacific leadership. Understanding Pacific leadership in this way will develop
leaders that are able to do so.
The common shared understanding
The common shared understanding is important in terms of understanding
Pacific leadership. It represents the core essence of Pacific leadership. The
common shared understanding can be explained by the wantok framework.
Although the wantok framework originates from the Solomon Islands, it is
similar to other frameworks that explain the underpinning ideologies of
Pacific Nations.
The concepts that underpin the wantok framework (the connectedness
between the spiritual world and the lived reality) came with Pacific peoples
as they migrated from the Solomon Islands throughout the Pacific and onto
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New Zealand. In this way the wantok framework is the primary source of the
common shared understanding that underpins Pacific leadership. For this
reason it has been chosen as a representation of all other similar
frameworks. However it recognised that it is not the same as other similar
frameworks.
Reciprocity is embedded in the wantok framework and was mentioned by
many of the participants in both Fiji and Tonga. It appears that the concept
of reciprocity is at that core of the shared understanding. Ratuva (2010)
explained that although reciprocity is not recognised in policy documents, it is
well entrenched in Pacific cultures. Reciprocity describes the concept of
mutually exchanging goods or services for mutual benefit. However in the
Pacific context, the gains may be in the future when there is a time of need.
In this way the Pacific concept of reciprocity is more about delayed
gratification rather than instantaneous gratification.
Kastom is also an important feature of the common shared understanding.
While the wantok framework provides the basis from which the common
shared understanding is built, Kastom explains day to day practice.
According to Nanau (1998), Kastom includes forms of indigenous leadership
and the practice of the social and cultural norms of the group and has been
an important factor in countering the negative images of colonisation and
embodying the intrinsic value of local cultural practices. In the Pacific
regional context, Kastom changes depending on the nation state. This
means that although there is some similarity there is also some diversity.
Consequently Kastom is dependent on the local culture (described by the
local variant of the wantok framework).
A common shared understanding is important to Pacific leadership. The
common shared understanding differentiates Pacific leadership from other
forms of leadership practice. When a person does not have the common
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shared understanding, they are not able to operate from within the traditional
context. However without the knowledge of modern leadership typologies,
traditional leaders will find it difficult to work in the modern context.
Pacific followership
Unlike leadership, followership in the Pacific context has not changed from
its traditional position. By this I mean that followers tend to wait till direction
is given from the leader. Even when there are opportunities for followers to
give their perspective about a topic, this is not likely to happen. Followership
in this form can be considered as traditional.
A participant explains Pacific followership by saying that in lectures when
asked questions, Pacific students tend not to answer. Not because they do
not know the answer. In many cases they have a lot to say. Rather it is
because they do not feel that it is their place to question the authority of the
teacher (or leader) (Alalahe). Another participant (Mahuika), explains that
when asked to give an opinion about a subject, followers often say “why
don’t you just tell us what to do and we will go away and do it.”
In this way followership has not developed in the same way that leadership
has. Instead followership in the Pacific context has remained the same as it
was in traditional forms of leadership. This means that the strength of Pacific
followership is reflective of traditional leadership. Consequently followership
in the Pacific context is cast from a traditional perspective.
Pacific followership remains unchanged because of the way that leadership
is constructed in the Pacific context. Fundamentally Pacific leadership is
rooted in traditional leadership. Because there is an overlap between the
domains of social relationships and influence, the context that frames
traditional leadership plays a part in framing Pacific followership.
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Pacific followership reflects the emphasis that traditional leadership has in
both rural and urban areas of the Pacific. In urban areas where Pacific
leadership has fused with other leadership typology characteristics, followers
tend to recognise the characteristics of traditional leadership within the
merged leadership typology.
This has allowed Pacific leaders to be adaptive to their context. When the
context is traditional, traditional forms of leadership are used. When the
context is transactional, transactional forms of leadership are used and so
forth. In this way Pacific leaders are oscillating between leadership
typologies depending on the context they are in at the time.
What is unknown is the ways in which Pacific leadership and followership are
likely to change in the future. In the Pacific context, Pacific leadership and
followership is a closed system. It is often defined by the region but more
specifically by the nation state that contains it. Although there are similarities
in what constitutes Pacific leadership in Tonga, it is different to what
constitutes Pacific leadership in Fiji. However there are commonalities, such
as reciprocity being seen in the leadership in both Fiji and Tonga.
Transactional and Servant leadership in the donor recipient
relationship
It is my conclusion that donor partners use a transactional leadership
typology. Although donor nations display aspects of transformational
leadership (donor partners are attempting to make positive changes in
recipient nations and in this way the leadership typology they use has
aspects of transformational leadership) the predominant leadership typology
that describes how donor partners are behaving is transactional. This is at
odds with the traditional leadership typologies that exists in the traditional
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context, and the observations that I made that servant leadership was the
predominant leadership typology of leaders in modern contexts.
Servant leadership is observant in recipients because the common shared
understanding that underpins Pacific leadership incorporates reciprocity.
When Pacific leaders act in a reciprocal way, they are serving other people
before looking after their own needs. This is a necessary requirement of
servant leadership.
Some of the frustrations that have been felt by participants may be related to
recipient nations serving the needs of the donors. An example of this is the
reaction that recipient nations have to donor nations using tied and
conditional methodologies. The literature and participants have agreed that
when donor and recipient nations negotiate the terms and conditions of
development programmes there are cases where the donor requires the
recipient to change domestic policies. Changes to the domestic policy of
recipient nation states is often required to be made before the development
programme begins.
Another cause of frustration is that the servant leader not only wants to serve
others before themselves, but they want others to serve them, before
themselves. This does not occur in the donor recipient relationship. When
donor partners uses transactional leadership and the recipient nation’s uses
servant leadership, frustrations will be felt by the servant leader. However
this can be extended to when two different leadership typologies interact.
Leadership typologies typically determine the nature of the relationship
between the two parties. In the case of international development the donor
nation is leading the recipient nation, consequently the donor is the leader
and the recipient is the follower. When the leader and follower use different
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leadership typologies the way in which each party negotiates the relationship
is different. This is because each leadership typology has a preferred way of
negotiating between the follower and the leader. The amount of influence
that each party brings to the table helps determine which negotiation strategy
is used to describe the relationship between the parties. This means that
one party has the ability to influence the other party. In other words the
leadership typology of the party with the greater amount of influence is likely
to be preferred in the relationship. What that means for the donor recipient
relationship is that the donor has more influence in the relationship and
because donor nations use a transactional leadership typology, it is used to
describe the relationship between the parties rather than servant leadership.
When two groups use different leadership typologies a power relationship will
be created. When the power relationship is not balanced one party will feel
as though they are being oppressed. In the case of this research, recipients
of donor aid are feeling frustrated by the actions of donor nations. I believe
that this is less likely to occur when two parties use the same leadership
typology. An example of this would be if both donor and recipient nations
used servant leadership. Both parties would be serving the other and their
mutual needs are likely to be met. Another example would be if both parties
were using transactional leadership. In this case there would be a clear
understanding that the relationship was based on a series of transactions,
there would be a mutual understanding of this and the parties would leave
the relationship understanding that what occurred was best for that particular
context.
In the future donor partners may want to consider changing the leadership
typology that they use in the Pacific context. The transactional typology that
is currently being used maybe a source of frustrations for recipient nations.
This is impacting on the perception that recipient nations have of the donor
recipient relationship. If donor nations used a servant leadership typology,
development programmes would be representative of the needs of recipient
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nation states. I believe that if donor nations used a servant leadership
typology, then anticipated development programme outcomes like providing
universal primary education to Pacific nation states may become more
achievable.
Lack of formal leadership development in the Pacific
Almost half of the participants in this research indicated that there were few
formal leadership development opportunities in the Pacific region. Of those
that are available, they tend not to orientate leadership from a Pacific
perspective and are insufficient in quantity.
Participants explained that donor driven leadership development in the
Pacific needs to address two issues. Firstly that leaders need to be
developed so that they are able to operate effectively in both the traditional
and modern sectors of Pacific life. Secondly that leadership development
programmes need to be measured to see if they work as anticipated. At the
moment this is not being done.
The lack of leadership development opportunities can be partially explained
by donor nations only conducting leadership development programmes when
it suits their needs to do so. In the education sector, donor nations are not
providing leadership development programmes in sufficient quantity to
achieve their goal of providing universal primary education.
Despite best efforts on the part of donor nations, many educational leaders
remain insufficiently trained. This raises questions about the quality and
quantity of educational leaders in recipient nations. The quality of
educational leaders is being questioned because many educational leaders
remained insufficiently trained. The quantity of educational leaders is
questioned because universal primary education in Pacific nation states as of
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yet remains unachieved. Because of this it seems that more teachers and
educational leaders will need to be trained to cater for the school aged
children that are currently not attending formal schooling.
Universal primary education can be achieved when donor nations play a
more significant role in providing educational leadership support. There
seems to be some reluctance on the part of donor nations to pay close
attention to the needs of educational leaders and consequently there are too
few appropriately trained educational leaders to achieve the goals of donor
nations. In my opinion this is a key reason why donor partners have not
been able to fulfil the MDGs. I believe that if donor nations created sufficient
quality educational leaders and provided the infrastructure and resources to
support teachers, universal primary education could be achieved. However
donor nations failed to create sufficiently trained teachers and as a
consequence the anticipated outcomes failed to be realised.
In terms of providing educational leadership training in the Pacific, there are
two programmes that have provided these opportunities, the Access to
Quality Education Programme and the Tonga Secondary School Leadership
Programme. Both have provided educational leaders at the school level with
leadership development opportunities. However for more senior educational
leaders, there is little in the way of professional development. Participants
indicated that the gap appears to be filled by traditional forms of leadership
development and what is on offer from the church. What we can learn from
this is that there are significant gaps in the way that donor nations approach
educational leadership development.
We can say with some certainty that the opportunities for educational leaders
to receive donor driven leadership development is now restricted to the
primary school sector. But even then what international development has on
offer in the Pacific context is limited. As we have discussed the MDGs focus
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on the primary school sector. We know that this is the case because the
Tonga Secondary School Leadership Programme has had its funding
stopped because it did not focus on basic (primary) education. Also
participants have expressed that the professional development opportunities
for senior educational leaders are limited and have been for quite some time.
Donor nations need to take a more active role in providing support for
educational leaders if their goal of providing universal primary education is to
become a reality. Two things are not happening, donor partners are not
sufficiently supporting the development of educational leaders and they are
not achieving universal primary education in Pacific nation states.
Future leaders need to be able to operate effectively in both the
traditional and modern sectors of Pacific life
One participant explains that international development should create
institutions that are able to “grow a new crop of leaders based on ethical and
entrepreneurial leadership” (Executive Sir). This will strengthen
accountability while reducing the incidences of corruption and violence.
Corruption does occur in the Pacific “you see the system that is created in
the Pacific enhances corruption” (Executive Sir). In some contexts acting in
a reciprocal manner while in the seat of leadership can be interpreted as
acting in a corrupt way. However to do away with reciprocity from a Pacific
leadership typology, would take the Pacific out of Pacific leadership. This is
why new Pacific leaders need to entrepreneurial and ethical while being able
to operate in both the traditional and modern frames.
There is a need for leaders to have the skills that will allow them to bridge the
gap between the traditional (rural) context and the modern (urban) context.
One participant explains that they had not seen a development programme
that focuses on growing leaders from a Pacific perspective (Executive Sir).
For this to happen, leaders will need to have skills in both traditional and
contemporary forms of leadership. When Pacific leaders are strongly
connected to their culture and the church, they are likely to find success in
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the modern formalised domain (Sanga, 2008). Donor partners need to be
aware of the importance that the church plays in the development of leaders
in the Pacific context.
Because of the overlap in the domains of social relationships and influences,
Pacific leaders are able to gain leadership development from other areas in
their life. Many participants indicated that they have gained some leadership
development skills from being members of the church, while others indicated
that it was traditional to gain leadership skills from their family life. In this
way the perceived lack of formal leadership development programmes are
supplemented by informal leadership development found in traditional
leadership and church leadership structures. This highlights that donor
partners are not making a significant impact on leadership development in
the Pacific context.
How international development enhances educational leadership
development
Leadership capacity. When we talk about leadership development
in the Pacific, we mean that we want to make changes to the leadership
capacity of the Pacific. Leadership capacity can be thought of in two ways.
Firstly that is describes the skills and experience that a leader has. This is
the leadership capacity of a person. Secondly it refers to the number of
leaders that are embedded within the Pacific context. Leadership capacity in
this context refers to new leaders being created. Leadership development is
able to make changes to both the skills and experience that a leader has, as
well as increasing the number of people with these skills. In this way
leadership development directly impacts on leadership capacity. When
development partners run leadership development programmes they intend
to increase the leadership capacity in the sector that is focused on.
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The Tonga Secondary School Leadership Programme increases the
personal capacity of the educational leaders in their programme. It does this
to expand their “competencies so that they are more able to do what they
should be doing” (Mahuika). However the Access to Quality Education
Programme increases the personal capacities of educational leaders at all
levels, “it’s also for those that have been identified as potential leaders that
would come into a leadership position at some point. They’ve been identified
because they have demonstrated some kind of leadership skills that they
want to develop further” (Pele). AusAID has provided the funding and
expertise for both the Tonga Secondary School Leadership Programme and
the Access to Quality Education Programme. In this way international
development has enhanced educational leadership in Fiji and Tonga.
All development programs have aspects of leadership
development. All development programmes tend to have some aspects of
leadership development embedded in it.
I guess for me whatever donor programmes, aid programmes weather it’s in health or education or whatever, I am sure that indirectly or directly there is always going to be some leadership development that occurs naturally because that’s the nature of the benefits that accrue out of any development programmes I am sure (Pele).
This occurs because the people working within the development programme
need to be able to lead the recipients of the development programme in an
anticipated direction. So within the development programme there are
aspects of leadership training and development.
The act of leading others in a pre-defined direction is a core definition of what
leadership sets out to achieve. So in this regard all development
programmes are in fact leadership development programmes. However this
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does not necessarily mean that they are tagged by donor nations as
leadership development programmes.
Donor programmes that are tagged as leadership development programmes
have a direct relationship with leadership development in particular sector.
These programs explicitly develop leaders with particular skillsets. However
development programmes that are not tagged as leadership development
have an indirect relationship with leadership development. The relationship
is indirect because leadership development is an unanticipated side effect of
the development programme. Instead of the recipient being developed as
leaders, the consultants working on the development program receive the
leadership development. In this way the development consultants are able
to lead their recipients in a pre-defined strategic direction.
Provision of funds, resources and infrastructure. It is well known
that one of the ways that international development enhances leadership
development by providing resources and infrastructure to development
programmes, or by providing funds to move people around the Pacific.
However sometimes when development programmes provide resource to
local communities they do not train them in ways to use the resources
efficiently.
A participant explained that after years of applying for resources for their
school their application accepted. However he felt frustrated when the
resources arrived because there was no training for the teachers to show
them how to use it. The teachers did not use the resources because they did
not know how to use them (Agunua)
Although development programmes do provide resources and infrastructure
to recipient nations, sometimes it is not in sufficient quantities. One
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participant said that even though some resources were made available, they
still had to make do with what they had (Afekan). While another explained
that the resources were often distributed to the main island, and that the
outer islands did not receive the “full capacity of development” (Loau). In this
way resources are distributed unequally. This may occur because the
population distribution in Pacific nation states is unequal, meaning that to
reach the majority of people resources distribution needs to reflect the
distribution of the population. That means focusing resources on the main
islands where the larger populations tend to live.
Donor partners do provide some infrastructure, resources and funding to
enhance educational leadership development, but more can be done.
Recipients are grateful for the help that they have received. However issues
with the delivery of the resources have left some recipients feeling frustrated.
Donor partners can improve the delivery of resources and infrastructure by
providing recipients with what they want, rather than what they are perceived
to need.
A shift in the reporting of the Millennium Development Goals outcomes
Until recently the bulk of the MDGs reports indicated that donor nations were
unlikely to meet the anticipated outcomes. However as this thesis and the
MDGs draw to a close, there has been a significant shift in the ways that the
MDGs outcomes for the Pacific region are now being reported by AusAID.
A 2014 United Nations report on the progress of providing universal primary
education indicated that “between 2000 and 2011 progress was observed
everywhere except in Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa and Western Asia”
(United Nations, 2014, p18). In the Pacific region, primary net enrolment
rates in Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu were described by AusAID (2011b)
as being on a downward trend. At this time it was reported that the
proportion of pupils starting Grade One who reached the last grade of
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primary education in Oceania had decreased from 60 percent in 2000 to 50
percent in 2011 (United Nations, 2014).
Furthermore, “[e]ven before the economic downturn, donors had not met the
commitment made in Dakar in 2000 that no country would be left behind due
to lack of resources. More recently, donors have even been moving away
from this promise” (United Nations 2014, p. 19). This was seen in the
reduction in donor funding to provide universal primary education from “$6.2
billion in 2010 to $5.8 billion in 2011” (United Nations 2014, p. 19).
However what is being reported now, only a few months later by donor
nations and United Nations reports is that the MDGs are “on track” to being
achieved (Australian Agency for International Development, 2015a). What
“on track” means has not been explained. For some reason that is unknown,
there has been a significant shift in the reporting of the anticipated outcomes
of the MDGs reports. In the final months of a 15 year programme, donor
nations have stopped indicating that the MDGs are unlikely to be achieved
and are now reporting that they are “on track.”
Although there has been some progress on realising the MDGs, it is unlikely
that they will achieved by 2015. Instead of reporting that the MDGs were not
achievable, donor nations are describing the outcomes of development
programmes in a positive light. This reminds me of a comment that one
participant made. He said that donor nations tend to not publish negative
reports about development programmes (Abeguwo). While I remain hopeful
that the MDGs are “on track”, this thesis was constructed on the prevailing
literature at the time which indicated that the anticipated outcomes were
unlikely to be met.
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One reason why there may have been a change in the reporting of the
MDGs is that there has been a shift in focus for donor partners such as
Australia. Prior to 2014, the MDGs guided international development
programmes in the Pacific region. However this has since
changed. AusAID’s new strategic framework focuses on, “maximizing impact
by being innovative and leveraging knowledge and finance” (Australian
Agency for International Development, 2015b) in private sector development
and human development to achieve the promotion of, “Australia’s national
interests by contributing to the sustainable economic growth and poverty
reduction” (Australian Agency for International Development, 2015b) in
recipient nation states.
How has this research answered the research questions?
NZAID (2012) explains that there are approximately 1.6 million school aged
children throughout the Pacific region not currently attending formal
schooling. However in September, 2000 member states of the United
Nations made a commitment to provide universal primary education in
recipient nations as one of eight MDGs. The MDGs intended to provide
learning opportunities for all school aged children. However it was clear by
2009 that this was proving to be more challenging than anticipated
(Australian Agency for International Development, 2009).
As donor nations made attempts to achieve the MDGs it was realised that
more work needed to be done to achieve the anticipated outcomes. These
included the Monterrey Consensus (2002), the Rome Declaration on
Harmonization (2003), the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005), the
Accura Agenda for Action (2008) and the Cairns Compact (2009). However
donor nations did not seem to be able to make sufficient changes in recipient
nations to achieve either key performance indicators or anticipated outcomes
(Australian Agency for International Development, 2009).
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About this time I was considering topics for research as part of a PhD at
Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. I soon realised that if I took
one of the MDGs (in this case the provision of universal primary education) I
would be able to unpack it issues and find an alternative dialogue to explain
why after 10 years (now 15 years since I am at the end of the PhD process)
donor nations were not able to achieve universal primary education in
recipient nations.
After reading the literature about how donor nations construct development
programmes in recipient nations I came to an understanding that the issue is
not with the implementation of development programmes. The issues were
far deeper, and a bit to the side of the current focus of the literature. I
realised that this was a problem that could be resolved with a technical
solution. However it seems that the technical solution was not being
explored by donor or recipient partners.
Part of the issue is that there were an insufficient number of educational
leaders to take up the challenge and support the donor nations in providing
universal primary education. This led me to question the impact that
international development has on leadership development in the Pacific
context. It seemed to me that if you wanted to achieve universal primary
education in the Pacific you would need three things. Firstly sufficient
educational leaders in place to do the work. Secondly sufficient
infrastructure and resources to support the work and thirdly buy-in from the
local community.
Education is greatly valued in the Pacific, so it was presumed that buy-in
from parents was likely to occur. The international development literature
was full of examples where donor nations were providing resources and
infrastructure to recipient nations. It became clear that providing resources
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and infrastructure was not the issue either. That left the development of
leaders in the local context to actually do the work.
There was very little in the way of literature about leadership development in
the Pacific context, or Pacific leadership in general. I conducted a literature
review of the leadership literature and found that the leadership typology that
a leader uses describes how they interact with their followers. I also found
that the education sector has their own leader’s typologies that describe
leadership within the school. But what I didn’t know was what educational
leadership development programmes were currently operating in the Pacific
region.
Further investigation led me to the Pacific Leadership Programme. At the
time it was the only donor driven educational leadership development
programme operating in the Pacific. The Pacific Leadership Programme
constructed two programmes in the education sector, one in Tonga and the
other in Fiji. I knew that if I needed to interview people from these
programmes for my thesis. I also interviewed other people who had
experience with development programmes.
While I was collecting data for this research I found that leadership
development in the Pacific context is not dominated by donor partners. This
surprised me. The literature told a different story. Almost immediately I
found out that the church plays a significant role in developing leaders in the
Pacific context. Compared to the church, donor nations do not play a
significant role in the leadership development of Pacific peoples in the
education sector, or any other sector. This immediately raised alarm bells for
me. I asked myself, if donor nations were serious about providing universal
primary education to the Pacific context, why are they not developing
teachers, principals and educational consultants? The plot grew thicker.
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I spent quite some time during my data collection acculturating myself into
the local context. I understood that I needed to be contextualised into the
local context and this was my opportunity to do so. My time in-country was
limited, so I attempted to learn as much about local life as I could while I
could. It became apparent that Pacific peoples have become adept at living
in the modern world and the traditional world at the same time. While they
were doing this they remained the same person, guided by the same ideals
and principles. Finally I began to understand what it means to be a Pacific
leader.
Upon returning to New Zealand, I analysed the data from the new
perspective that I had gained while on data collection. It was apparent that
the people I interviewed had a common story regardless of whether they
were based in Fiji or Tonga. Participants were frustrated with donor partners
for a multitude of reasons. Mostly the reasons for their frustrations were
related to the ways in which donor programmes are constructed. This in part
validated my thoughts that there was an issue with the focus of development
programmes.
After reading the literature, interviewing participants and analysing the
collected data I have come to understand that today it is common for Pacific
leaders to get their leadership development from traditional sources or the
church. Donor partners do have some leadership development programmes
but they are not sufficient to meet the needs of the Pacific. Furthermore,
they are lacking in terms of longevity to support the long-term development
of leaders in the education sector, or any other sector. Consequently it
appears that international development is failing because it is reliant on the
leadership development that is already occurring naturally in-country, only
providing minimal support to the sectorial needs of leaders.
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It is my contention that in the Pacific context, the MDGs were slow to be
realised because of inadequate support with regards to the development of
leaders in the appropriate sector. In the case of education, there was not
enough support of local educational leaders. Very little was done to create
new leaders or create new institutions to provide support for leaders. What
was provided was decidedly insufficient to meet the needs of current
educational leaders let alone provide for the needs of tomorrows students.
There was a heavy reliance on what was already being done within the
Pacific region in terms of leadership development. The MDGs
supplemented existing mechanisms to provide support, infrastructure and
resources to the education sector and any successes in achieving universal
primary education in the Pacific region is partially attributable to the work of
the church in recipient nations. The work of the church is not mentioned in
donor partner reports. It is not until you are in country that you realise what
is really happening.
With so many conferences supporting the achievement of the MDGs, I
thought that donor partners would realise that supporting sectorial leadership
development is fundamental to the achievement of anticipated goals using
development programmes. However it appears that donor partners tend to
focus on what they were currently doing and making that more efficient. To
say that donor partners are slow learners is an understatement. They are
not learners. Donor partners do not seem to have understood the basic
concepts of leadership and have not applied any form of leadership to the
technical aspects of providing universal primary education to recipient
nations. The transactional leadership typology that donor partners use in
some ways gives me the impression that donor partners are attempting to
buy the solution rather than create it.
Up until recently, all donor nations were reporting that it seemed unlikely that
recipient nations were able to achieve universal primary education. Now that
the deadline for the MDGs has been reached donor nations are saying that
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achieving universal primary education is on track. There is some suspicion
that the mechanisms that influence the reporting of results have changed. In
some nations states such as Tonga, very little was done to support the
development of educational leaders in the primary school sector by donor
partners. This seems to indicate that donor nations are saying that you can
achieve universal primary education without developing new and existing
educational leaders. For me, there is something fundamentally wrong with
that assessment.
To summarise it is my belief that for any development programme to be
successful long term, donor partners need to support leadership
development in that sector. In the Pacific context, we need to develop
leaders that share a common understanding of the nation state. Pacific
leaders need to be able to operate efficiently in the traditional and modern
context. This can be achieved with appropriate professional development.
Concepts of what constitutes Pacific leadership is changing from the
traditional forms of leadership to more modern forms. Some work needs to
be done to investigate if this means that Pacific leaders are using already
known leadership typologies from within a Pacific frame, or if in fact Pacific
leaders are developing their own new leadership typology.
Summary of chapter seven
This research examines the relationship that international development has
with leadership development in the Pacific. To achieve this I have examined
the literature. From the literature review I explained that through the MDGs
the United Nations has prioritised the provision of universal primary
education. United Nations member states have supported this and we can
see that in the Pacific this has meant that there has been a re-alignment of
development programmes by donor partners to suit the strategic direction of
the MDGs. Despite their best efforts donor nations were unsuccessful in
achieving the MDGs. I believe that this occurred because international
development has a weak relationship with leadership development in the
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Pacific context. This means that donor nations do not fully understand
Pacific leadership as it exists today, and they are unwilling to commit to
providing development opportunities to recipient nations at a scale and a way
that is required to achieve anticipated outcomes.
Understanding Pacific leadership is difficult because it exists simultaneously
in the traditional and modern contexts. However as seen in Figure 7.2 there
tends to be a shared understanding that informs decisions in both the
traditional and modern context. What this means is that Pacific leadership
seems to be in a state of transition. Leadership in the Pacific is still traditional
however this is changing slowly away from this frame to include more
western leadership typologies. However the leadership typology used is
context dependent. When the context is traditional a traditional leadership
typology is used. When the context is modern a modern leadership typology
is used. Although the leadership typology is changing, there is a common
thread of shared knowledge that exists in both the traditional and modern
contexts.
The shared knowledge represents the knowledge that recipients are giving
external consultants so that they can be contextualised into the local context.
In this way a person is able to move between the modern and traditional
contexts depending on the amount of shared knowledge they have. This
shared knowledge can be described differently depending on the nation state
you are in.
Traditional Pacific leadership still exists in the Pacific context. Traditional
leadership is rooted in a cultural base that is founded upon reciprocity.
However Traditional Pacific leadership is not the same as Pacific leadership.
Today, Pacific leaders can be found using both traditional modes of
leadership as well as more modern leadership typologies. By themselves
neither represent Pacific leadership well. Furthermore it would be erroneous
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to homogenise the two extremes and use this as an example of Pacific
leadership. Pacific leadership is more about being adaptive to different
contexts and applying the correct leadership typology to the correct context.
This in itself is a leadership style that needs to be explored more in the
leadership literature.
Pacific leadership is contained by two concepts, leadership and followership.
Pacific leadership and Pacific followership are rooted in Pacific traditions.
However Pacific leadership is in a state of transition away from the traditional
frame and has started to incorporate contemporary leadership typologies.
Pacific followership on the other hand is still based on traditional forms of
followership. Pacific followership does not seem to have moved away from
its traditional form in the same way that Pacific leadership has. What this
means is that it is likely that there is a time delay between when leadership
and followership are the same, and the accompanied shift when leadership
moves away from its traditional foundations. There is some suspicion that
while Pacific leaders are adapting the leadership typologies that they use to
the context, Pacific followership will remain embedded in a traditional
followership frame. Pacific followership is likely to remain this way because
the shared knowledge that exists in both the traditional and modern contexts
are anchoring Pacific followership to a traditional frame.
What this means for me is that Pacific leadership is currently in a state of
transition from traditional forms of leadership to another leadership typology
that is currently unknown. It is unknown because observantly there are
aspects of traditional, transactional, transformational and servant leadership
embedded within the practice of leadership in the modern Pacific context.
When recipient nations enter into a development program with donor nations
donor nations are using a transactional leadership typology. However
observantly Pacific leaders use a servant leadership typology. When
recipients use a servant leadership typology and engage with donor partners
who use a transactional typology recipients become frustrated. This may be
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extended to say that when a transactional leadership typology has more
influence in a relationship with servant leadership, the servant leader may
feel frustrated with the contextual actions of the transactional leader. In this
way future relationships of this nature may be predicted with some certainty.
Pacific leadership is dynamic and always incorporates traditional values,
however in some cases also includes aspects of ‘modern’ leadership
practices. There are times where Pacific leaders display leadership
characteristics of one leadership typology, and there are times where they
display others. This means that Pacific leaders are increasingly adaptive
and flexible to the local context while practising a dynamic form of leadership
that is not bound by a single leadership typology as described by the
leadership literature.
Educational leaders have been let down by policy direction changes made in
donor nations. In the case of Tonga, the only educational leadership
programme had its funding stopped due to a change in Australia’s strategic
direction. This is because the MDGs focus on providing universal primary
school education while the Tonga Secondary School Leadership Programme
focused on secondary schools. Donor partners tend to take a one step
solutions to resolving issues that arise in the achievement of strategic
priorities. Instead of taking a macro view of the issues of providing
international development assistance, donor nations tend to take a micro
view of the context. This means that donor nations cannot see the larger
picture and are likely to apply small simple fixes to complicated technical
issues.
Although international development has a weak relationship with leadership
development, international development does have a relationship with
leadership development. This is a good thing. Because in the absence of
donor driven development programmes, there would be no relationship. The
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relationship that exists is both direct and indirect. In a direct way
development partners have provided resources, infrastructure and funds to
move people around the Pacific and support local initiatives. It has an
indirect relationship because all development programmes have aspects of
leadership development embedded in it. However in both cases, the
relationship that international development has with leadership development
in the Pacific context is weak. It is weak in that it is small in the relative
abundance of leadership development programmes tagged and not tagged
as leadership.
There was once a time when traditional leadership gained leadership
development from the cultural space that existed at the time. After
colonisation, the church became central to the Pacific way of life. It supplied
a space where people were able to develop as leaders outside of traditional
modes of leadership development. Traditional forms of leadership
development and leadership development from the church now provide the
mainstay of leadership development opportunities in the Pacific context.
International development makes up very little of the leadership development
opportunities in the Pacific.
Traditional leadership development and church based leadership
development options far outnumber leadership development opportunities
managed by donor nations. International developments relationship with
leadership development is weak because with regards to the MDGs,
sectorial leaders were unable to meet anticipated outcomes. I believe that if
Pacific leadership was strengthened by donor partners, meeting the
anticipated outcomes of the MDGs would not be a challenge. In short, there
were too few leaders working towards a pre-defined goal to make achieving
that goal possible within the allowed timeframe and given the available
resources. This is not just in the education sector, but any sector that
international development provides support to. Development programmes
that are successful tend to have strong sectorial leadership support.
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Although international development intends to help recipient nations, it is
causing frustrations for those involved in the development programmes.
Participants have highlighted six reasons for frustrations to be created, as
follows,
Changing policy directions in the donor nation.
The use of external consultants that are not embedded in the local
context.
Insufficient resources.
Insufficient training to fully utilise the resources that are provided.
The perception that international development is a continuation of
colonisation.
There are few opportunities for leadership development.
Recipients of development programmes have legitimate reasons to feel
frustrated. Largely the frustrations are born of the failure by donor partners
to recognise and negotiate the technical difficulties in providing donor
support to development programmes. These frustrations are not new and
are well known in the Pacific context. However it is also well known that
donor nations are slow learners and tend to perceive the success and
failures of development programmes from their own perspective. Recipients
seem to have a lack of confidence in the donor nation’s ability to make
appropriate changes to the international development model that will
alleviate the stressors of development programmes.
Leadership in the Pacific is changing. This is because there are an
increasing number of leadership opportunities becoming available. As more
opportunities for leadership become evident, there is an increasing need for
leadership development. What this means for Pacific leadership is the
number of traditional leaders are not sufficient to meet the needs of the
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region. Consequently there is a need for more leaders to be developed.
Leaders that are grown using leadership development programmes are not
traditional leaders and are less likely to follow traditional leadership
typologies. Instead more modem leadership typologies are likely to be
taught. Because of this, leadership development programmes are
influencing the direction that Pacific leadership is taking. However they are
also increasing the leadership capacity of Pacific leadership.
The relationship that international development has with leadership
development is dynamic and adaptive to the changes from both donor nation
policy and the changing leadership landscape in the Pacific. Unfortunately at
current levels it is weak. This research has uncovered that international
development in its current form is creating frustrations for recipient nations.
Recipients feel that Pacific knowledge is not taken seriously and that
international development programmes lack the depth to capture the
essence of what is needed in the Pacific context. Furthermore leadership
development programmes that are intended to address the need for
increased leadership capacity are changing the face of Pacific leadership.
Currently Pacific leadership is transitioning away from the traditional
leadership frame. What it is transitioning cannot be defined as it has not
finished transitioning. What we do know is that Pacific leadership today is
underpinned by knowledge base that exists in both the traditional and
modern worlds. Should this continue into the future it would constitute a new
leadership typology that is at this time unknown in the leadership literature.
With regard to the ongoing success of development programmes into the
future. Donor partners need to take a macro view of the context and apply
multiple programmes in a supporting way to achieve anticipated outcomes.
Currently donor partners are not gaining critical mass to initiate momentum
to achieve aspirations such as providing universal primary school education.
While the achievements of donor partners are appreciated by recipients,
more work can be done to improve programme outcomes.
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CHAPTER EIGHT
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
In the previous chapters of this thesis I have identified that approximately 1.6
million school aged children are not attending formal primary school in the
Pacific region (NZAID, 2012). In September 2000 the United Nations
recognised that millions of children globally were not attending primary
school and created a pathway to increase participation in primary school for
school aged children. To do this the United Nations created the Millennium
Development Goals. Designed as a set of eight strategic outcomes, United
Nations member states committed to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals by 2015. Today in September 2015 we are able to say with some
clarity that United Nation member states that support international
development in the Pacific have been unable to achieve universal primary
education in the Pacific context. Furthermore donor partner driven
leadership development programmes have been limited in the
transformational effect they have had in recipient nation states.
The literature and the perceptions of the participants make similar
observations. Generally recipients feel as though donor partners come into
the Pacific context with their own perceptions that are not representative of
the Pacific. This is seen by many as being a continuation of colonisation.
However participants identified a number of issues that they have had with
the current development model. One of the issues that had some traction
with participants was the use of external consultant’s in-country. Another
was the lack of formal professional development opportunities that are
available for Pacific leaders. The intention of this chapter is to recommend a
way that donor partners are able to negotiate the difficulties that recipient
nations are experiencing. In this way it is hoped that future development
programmes will be able to achieve their anticipated outcomes with more
regularity.
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The recommendations that are provided here presume that donor nations
are able and are willing to commit similar levels of resources and funding to
the Pacific context into the future. There is an expectation that recipient
nations will be willing to participate in development programmes as they
have done in the past. It is anticipated that there will be a need for outcomes
like those described by the Millennium Development Goals in the Pacific
context in the future.
Changes in focus for donor partners
Donor partners have made some effort to provide universal primary
education in the Pacific context. However donor partners may consider
focusing on smaller more achievable goals in future. The Millennium
Development Goals were a set of large scale goals that were hard to meet.
This was especially true in the Pacific context where donor partners were
attempting to provide universal primary education. The irony is that recipient
nations and the church are the main providers of schools in the Pacific
region. Development programmes have helped, but success in providing
universal primary education lay in supporting the church to provide schools in
the Pacific context. This is one of the ways the church supports the local
community. A person just has to visit the Pacific to understand the impact
that the church has had on schooling in the Pacific context.
The scale of development programmes will always take second place to the
national interests of the donor nation. From Australia’s perspective “the
purpose of the aid programme is to promote Australia’s national interests by
contributing to sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction”
(Australian Agency for International Development, 2014, p. 1). For the
participants in this research, self-interest of the donor was a cause of
frustration.
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Throughout this research I have attempted to present the view of the
recipient in the aid relationship. To further this in the recommendations I
would hope that donor nations such as Australia change their self-interest
focus towards a perspective that is recipient focused. From my perspective,
donor driven development programmes are more likely to achieve
anticipated outcomes when they are positioned from the perspective of the
recipient. This may mean that donor nations need to change their strategic
direction to be reflective of the needs of the recipient nation.
Long term commitments
One of the outcomes of this research is that donor partners are not impacting
leadership development in a transformational way within the Pacific context.
This is partially due to the longevity of donor based leadership development
programmes. Donor development programmes tend to be short term. Donor
programmes are often contained within the election cycle of the government
of the donor nation. This allows governments in donor nations to focus on a
particular area while they hold the seat of leadership. When governments in
donor nations change, it is often accompanied by a shift in strategic focus of
the government’s development programmes. Historically this has caused
some frustrations for participants in this research.
If donor nations want to gain sustainable traction in the Pacific region,
development programmes need to be long term. Long term programmes are
likely to bring sectorial growth and stability to the region. Long term
development programmes will indicate to recipient nations that donor nations
are committed to making long term sustainable change in the region. When
development programmes are long term they are more likely to transform the
local community.
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Use of external consultants
Donor partners tend to use external consultants in their development
programmes. Participants have indicated that this is a concern because
external consultants often need to receive some professional development
so that they are able to contextualise their knowledge to the local context.
Continued use of external consultants sends recipient nations the message
that domestic consultants are not able to do the same job as external
consultants. This is not the case.
There are many examples in the Pacific region where domestic consultants
are as experienced and qualified as external consultants. Many domestic
consultants have spent time working on development programmes in donor
nations before returning to live in the Pacific. Furthermore there are an
increasing number of Pacific graduates from Pacific based universities such
as the University of the South Pacific that are able to fulfil the role of the
external consultant.
With this in mind a recommendation is made to favour the use of domestic
consultants over external consultants in the Pacific region. The advantage of
using a domestic consultant is that they are often naturally attuned to the
local context and do not need to receive professional development in this
area. Furthermore supporting domestic consultants is likely to result in a
greater acceptance of the development programme in the local community.
Credibility with local community is gained because the community are likely
to see the domestic consultant as being part of them. External consultants
on the other hand may appear as though they are trying to impose their
“colonial” ways on the Pacific region.
Another benefit of recruiting domestic consultants rather than external
consultants is that the knowledge that the consultant retains is likely to stay
in the local area. When external consultants are employed in development
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programmes, the external consultant is likely to return to their home country
taking their knowledge with them. This limits the ability of development
programmes to continue when the funding for the programme ends.
Using leadership in a macro and micro scale
Achieving universal primary education in recipient nation states is an issue
that can be overcome by providing a technical solution. Some of the
challenges identified in this research are providing resistance to achieving
universal primary education. One example of this is the lack of impact that
donor partners have in providing leadership development in the Pacific
context. Yet another is the transition of Pacific leadership from traditional
forms of leadership to more modern leadership typologies. A further
example is the changing focus of donor partners.
There is a lack of formal leadership development opportunities in the Pacific
region. This has resulted in many educational leaders obtaining their
professional development from their family and the church rather than donor
partners. Furthermore donor partners are not significantly impacting on
leadership development in ways that can enhance Pacific leadership in the
long term. When donor partners do focus on leadership development, their
focus is only maintained for a short amount of time. This reduces the overall
effective change that a programme can make when compared to the same
programme maintained over a longer period of time.
Supporting universal primary education in the Pacific context is not the sole
responsibility of donor partners. There are three interested parties that are
contributing to the provision of schools in the Pacific context. They are the
recipient nation states government, the church and donor partners. Some
efforts have been made by recipient nation state governments to work with
the church and donor partners to provide education resources infrastructure
and expertise. However this has not been able to achieve universal primary
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education. It seems that the wall of separation between church and state
that tends to exist in donor nations can be seen in donor driven development
programmes. What this means is that recipient nation states are able to
work with both donor nations and the church, but donor nations and the
church are unlikely to work together. It would be beneficial to Pacific nation
states and the region generally if donor partners and the church were able to
work together on development projects.
To achieve universal primary education, a twofold leadership plan can be
used to bring interested parties together and enhance the work that is
already being completed in the local context. This means that a macro and
micro approach to leadership can be applied simultaneously to the recipient
nation state. A macro approach will bind the interested parties together,
guiding and motivating them to enhance and support their strengths. In
doing so a cohesive group will be formed that will have the capacity to
achieve the anticipated outcome of providing universal primary education.
Unifying the interested parties into one group and harnessing the strengths
of the group to achieve universal primary education is a form of leadership at
a macro level. A transactional/transformational leadership typology could be
applied to this group to guide the direction of the project.
If a macro leadership approach is used in-country, donor partners, the
church and recipient nation states governments will be able to leverage the
strengths of what they are currently doing to achieve larger scale goals. In
the Pacific context, the church in partnership with recipient nation state
governments are making some movement towards providing universal
primary education. Many schools in Pacific nations are funded and
resourced by either the recipient government or the church. This is common
across the Pacific. However donor nations are supporting the education
sector as well. In the Pacific context donor partners are providing fee relief,
increasing infrastructure and teacher training initiatives (Australian Agency
for International Development, 2011a). Recipient nations, the church and
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donor nations all seem able to support the construction of schools and train
teachers. This needs to continue to occur but in a more structured manner.
Building new schools, creating transportation pathways, providing resources
and supporting the professional development of teachers and educational
leaders is important to achieving universal primary education in recipient
nation states. Some success may be found if interested parties play to their
strengths. This means that recipient nations could work with donor partners
to provide policy support.
Donor partners could work with the church to identify geographical spaces
that require schools to be built. They would then be able to plan the logistics
of creating the school and supporting infrastructure in remote locations.
Where there is a need for schooling but there is population is not large
enough to support a creating a school, travel pathways may need to be
constructed for day to day travel. An alternative would be to provide some
schools close by that has residential facilities attached.
Donor partners, the church and the recipient nation state government could
identify what resources each school needs and collect them in a central
location. When there is a need for the resources, they could be transported
to the schools as required. Purchasing common resources in bulk from local
providers and transporting them to school using local transportation vendors
will support the community financially. This is an additional way that
development programmes are able to reduce levels of poverty by supporting
the local economy.
Resources by themselves do not lead to improvements in learning outcomes.
What is needed is well developed human resources to make use of the
resources. The development of quality teachers, support staff and
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educational leaders are an important human factor in providing a successful
primary education. We know that teachers that poses a good subject
knowledge and have appropriate resources to support them are more likely
to produce students with educational outcomes that meet or exceed what is
expected. Students who have a good educational experience are likely to
contribute positively and significantly to the economy, thus reducing levels of
poverty. In this way developing the human resource aspect of providing
universal primary education is fundamental in using education to reduce
poverty in recipient nation states.
Providing appropriately trained teachers and support staff are also important.
This is where a micro approach to leadership is appropriate. A micro
approach to leadership is already underway. It involves giving the leader the
skills, qualities and experience that they need to be a better leader. This
form of leadership involves the professional development of the leader. It is
also known as leader development. Participants have identified that in the
absence of formal leadership opportunities, Pacific leaders gain leadership
experience from the church, their family and other locally available sources.
This is one area that international development may be able to gain some
additional traction and support more fully Pacific leadership development. By
developing a micro approach to leadership, Pacific leaders will be developed
at different levels, giving them the necessary skills that their position
requires.
According to Rooke and Torbet (2005), the majority of leaders are
“diplomats”. This means that the leaders have developed past the first two
leadership stages and are in the third (of seven) stage of leadership
development. 38% of leaders are “diplomats” who are characterised by
avoiding conflict by attempting to please higher status colleagues. However
the act of leadership involves the leader having to make decisions while their
authority is being challenged. When leaders are deferring to others, there
may not be sufficient leadership skills to achieve change in the status quo.
251
Consequently leaders need to be developed beyond the “diplomat” stage to
more multifaceted leadership levels as defined by Rooke and Torbet (2005).
This is unlikely to occur naturally and will require external intervention
through a leadership development programme.
Developing leaders to different levels is important for the ongoing success of
large scale development programmes because different positions within
organisations require different leadership skill sets. Leaders who are
managing the macro picture need to have a sophisticated leadership skill set,
while educational leaders who are involved in the school may need a
completely different leadership skill set. In this way one of the issues in
leadership development is providing different leadership development
programmes to different sets of leaders while ensuring that all of the
leadership development programmes are orientated in the same direction.
This is where the management the macro leadership landscape is as
important. It is also the place where I feel that donor partners have failed to
grasp the handle of leadership in the recipient nation state context. The
development of senior leaders is just as important as developing leaders at
lower levels. When a sufficient number of people have the appropriate
leadership skill sets, achieving large scale outcomes such as universal
primary education will become a technical issues that is able to be resolved
with logistical planning, infrastructure and resources.
Further research
More research needs to be conducted to more fully understand the concepts
that underpin Pacific leadership. What this research has found is that Pacific
leadership is in a state of transition away from being solely traditional to
incorporating more modern leadership typologies. It was also found that
there is a common shared understanding that underpins Pacific people’s
decision making process. This means that the same person can draw on the
same experiences and knowledge in different contexts. Because leadership
252
is context dependent, the leadership typology used by Pacific leaders
changes depending on if the context is traditional or modern.
Further research may give a better understanding of the common shared
understanding. This may include describing in detail the uniqueness of the
common shared understanding in terms of cultural groupings. This may
occur in the country of origin or a second homeland such as New Zealand or
Australia. A comparison could be made between leadership in-country and
in the second home-land. This would identify if a further shift in Pacific
leadership has taken place.
Conclusion
The recommendations in this research have been guided by the views and
perceptions of the participants and the literature that is available. This thesis
has uncovered the frustrations that participants feel when they engage with
development partners. However donor partners have been slow learners
and have tended to put their own self-interests before those of recipient
nations. The self-serving nature of development programmes is frustrating
for recipient nation states because donor partners are helping recipient
nations only when it is in the donor partner’s interests to do so.
The impacts that donor partners have made in the Pacific region are
noticeable. This cannot be denied. In the education sector donor partners
have provided infrastructure, fee relief, teacher training and resources to
different Pacific nation states through an assortment of development
programmes. While this is commendable, it is not significant when it is
compared to the investment that the church has made in the provision of
schools and associated resources throughout the Pacific region. Donor
partners are not impacting on the education sector in the Pacific context in a
substantive way to achieve universal primary education. In the most simple
253
terms donor partners did not build enough schools and train enough teachers
in the right locations to allow every school aged child to attend school.
Furthermore donor partners have not impacted on leadership development in
the Pacific context in a transformable way. Participants in this research
indicated that they get their professional development from the church, their
family and where ever they are able to. In this way leaders in the education
sector are not being sufficiently supported or developed so that they are able
to make substantive changes to the local context. I contend that the lack of
leadership development support to the education sector in the Pacific region
is a leading factor in the inability of donor partners to achieve universal
primary education as part of the Millennium Development Goals.
During this research I have come to understand that while donor partners
and international development programmes dominate the literature
landscape, there are other parties that are significantly impacting on local
sectors. These parties do not produce reports of the nature and to the extent
of donor partners.
A review of the literature was one of the first things that I started during the
PhD process. Up until my data collection phase I was of the impression that
donor partners were impacting greatly and in a transformational way on
recipient nation states. It was quite a surprise and life changing to hear the
frustrations of the participants when they talked about donor driven
development programmes.
If there was one decision that changed everything for me during this
research, it was the decision to travel to the Pacific to conduct the interviews.
Initially part of me wanted to call the participants on the phone or use skype.
However deep down I knew that I needed to see the context for myself. In
254
doing this I was able to obtain more authentic data than would otherwise be
possible. Spending time in-country allowed me to contextualise myself into
the local environment. I did this by not staying at an expensive hotel, instead
choosing to stay at the cheapest backpackers. This introduced me to other
travellers, many of whom were from within country passing though. I also
ate primarily at local markets where I was able to experience life as a local.
These experiences shaped my thinking and as I wrote this thesis I attempted
to present the position of the participant. This was important to me as there
are many reports that present the position of the donor.
As this thesis draws to a close I am thankful that you have taken time out of
your busy schedule to read my work. As I sit here in my office it is a cloudy
cold mid-winter day in Wellington, New Zealand. There is a warm half-
finished coffee to my side and I am imagining that you are sitting somewhere
in a nice comfortable chair thinking about what I have written. Maybe you
agree with my conclusions. And then again you may not. Either way I am
happy. It is not until the end of the research process that you hope that
someone, anyone reads your work. So to you the reader I thank you.
Kāhore taku toa i te toa takitahi, he
toa takitini. He pai te tirohanga ki
nga mahara mo nga raa pahemo
engari ka puta te maaramatanga i
runga i te titiro whakamua.
We cannot succeed without the support
of those around us. It's fine to have
recollections of the past but wisdom
comes from being able to prepare
opportunities for the future.
Thank you and goodbye.
255
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: RESEARCH INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Questions to ask in the interviews
To answer research question 1
1. Would you consider the leadership programme you have been involved in as
flagship?
2. What would be the contextual understanding of a flagship programme?
3. What programmes do you consider to be flagship?
4. In the _________ context could you describe the elements of, impacts of,
outcomes of, flagship leadership programmes?
5. In the ________ context how would you describe leadership best practice?
To answer research question 2
6. To what extent did the _________ context influence the
conceptualisation/design of the programme?
7. What is the contextual understanding of leadership capacity?
8. How have development leadership programmes impacted on contextual
leadership development programmes?
9. How would you describe the attributes/characteristics/experience/skills that
define a leader in the ___________ context?
To answer research question 3
10. In what ways have development programmes supported educational
leaders?
11. To what extent are development programmes reflective of the ________
context?
12. In what ways can educational development programmes be improved in the
_____ context?
13. What would be the contextual understanding of educational leadership?
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APPENDIX 2: RESEARCH CONSENT FORM
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN AN INTERVIEW
Title of project: Educational leadership in Pacific Nation states
I have been given and have understood an explanation of this research project. I have had an opportunity to ask questions and have them answered to my satisfaction. I understand that I may withdraw myself (or any information I have provided) from this project before 1 January 2014 without having to give reasons. It is my understanding that the views shared in the interview will not be repeated outside of the interview. Because of this I understand that I will be able to speak freely about the subject. I understand that this research will involve my participation in an interview and it will be have the audio recorded. It is my understanding that the information provided in the interview will be presented as a cumulative work presented for the fulfilment of a PhD degree. The information from the cumulative work may be presented in conferences, or submitted for publication in journals, books or other media in either printed or digital form. I understand that any information I provide will be kept confidential to the researcher, the supervisor and the person who transcribes the tape recordings of our interview. I understand the published results will not use my name, and that no opinions will be attributed to me in any way that will identify me. I understand that the tape recording of interviews will be wiped at the end of the project unless I indicate that I would like them returned to me. I understand that any documents provided by me to the researcher will only be used in this research. I understand that any documents that I may provide the researcher may be used in the research that it being undertaken. I also understand that I may be asked to facilitate contact with other parties that may be relevant to this research. I do so willingly and without prejudice.
Date of Interview
Name
Signature
Pseudonym
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APPENDIX 3: RESEARCH INFORMATION SHEET
Information sheet for interview Title of Research: Educational leadership in Pacific Nation states Researcher: Sean Fernandez: Faculty of Education, Victoria University of Wellington. I am a PhD candidate at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand who is examining the relationship that leadership development has with international development in the education sector of the Pacific region. This research will be used by me as part of my PhD Course. It will provide the understandings that I have of the subject matter and will inform a framework that describes leadership development from a Pacific lens in the education sector. This is a qualitative piece of research and data will be collected from two case studies. The case studies will be based in two different countries. Later the case studies will be compared and the common themes will be presented as a possible representation of the Pacific context. This research will include an analysis of the literature, documents and interviews. Anonymity is important when conducting an interview. The views and opinions shared in the interview environment are not to be repeated or acted upon outside the interview. This will allow interview participants the freedom to express themselves in the way they feel best represents their views. Participants will be asked to choose a pseudonym to represent them during the interview. The transcripts will refer to people by pseudonym not name. The list of pseudonym to people will only be available to me and my supervisors. Participants will be contacted within a reasonable timeframe of the interview so that they can confirm that the transcripts of the interview are accurate. Included will be a summary of the views expressed in the interview. Changes will be made as required. The raw data that I collect will only be available to my supervisors and I. Anonymity will be maintained at all times. All information collected will be held in a secure location and destroyed three years after the data is collected. This research investigates an international development programme that participants may have been involved in. I humbly ask your permission to participate in an interview and have the audio recorded by me and allow me to report on the research and publish in appropriate educational conferences and journals.
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The interview should take 50 minutes to complete. The location of the interview will be negotiated with you at your convenience. Any publication of the research will contain no names; only pseudonyms will be used. Should you give your consent, I will send you a copy of any publication related to the research on your request. The consent of participating in this research is voluntary. Participants are free to withdraw their consent without needing to provide an explanation. I request that this be done by the end of data collection which I anticipate will be 1 January 2014. During the analysis of the findings, interview participants will be contacted to ensure transcript records are accurate. Participants will be given the opportunity to comment on changes they would like to make or to clarify a topic. The means for verifying the accuracy of the transcript will be arranged during the interview. If you have any questions about this research please feel free to contact myself at […] or either of my supervisors Kabini Sanga (Primary Supervisor […]) or Joanna Kidman (Secondary Supervisor […]). The research has been approved by the Faculty of Education Human Ethics Sub-committee under delegated authority from the Victoria University Human Ethics Committee. If you have any ethical questions about this research please contact [the] Chair of the Human Ethics Committee, Victoria University of Wellington Thank you very much for your time and help to make this research project possible. Sean Fernandez
